Part 6- WTF!
The man sits across from them, his eyes shut as he smiles and a teacup in his hands. He wears a green shihakusho with a long black haori that's bottom is lined with white diamonds, his pants are brown and look like sleeping pants, his feet are bare for the moment, and his cane is set down beside him on the floor.
"My name is Kisuke Urahara," he grins. "And you are?"
"Demona."
"You must be one of the new gargoyles I heard of," he says in a chipper tone. "I also saw you flying last night, landed in the forest, right?"
"Yes. There was a mansion there that we've taken up roost in," she says politely. "You're the leader of the Visored clan? You don't look much like a gargoyle… not even an evolved one."
"I'm a Shinigami, but I used to be human. The accident at the mansion you reside in turn myself and two others into Shinigami, but we can take completely human forms," he explains. "Something like you little friend there."
The Visoreds, now all of them instead of just the four, stiffen and reach for the swords at their belts. A raised hand from the mysterious blonde shopkeeper stills them, the group relaxing completely. Demona looks to Grimmjow, who shakes off his feline form in a flurry of snowflakes that vanish before hitting the floor.
"Ooh!" the female feline states as she walks in. "I knew my nose was right on the money, what a hunk!"
"I'm taken," the teal haired man huffs.
Yorouchi pouts, but heads over to sit on Kisuke's lap anyway. He pats her purple locks, listening to her purr a moment, and then looks back over to the disgruntled Espada. Kisuke seems to be the type to think things long and through, one who takes his time in getting where he needs to be and employing long and intricate plans that strike every detail of what he wants or needs. These types are dangerous, Demona knows that from her long life.
"I can only imagine Demona here was a means to get you to me without suspicion," he muses out loud. "Why, may I ask have you gone to such lengths to search me out?"
"… I need my mate safe," Grimmjow says cutting straight to the chase. "Ichigo means everything to me, I want him to be safe from harm… from his clan and mine."
"Why on earth would either of your clans want you dead?"
"I'm an Espada and Ichigo is a Shinigami," he sighs. "But… he's also the only living child born through conception in any clan. He's the future of our species, the only one that can survive childbirth and give the ability to others."
"I see," Kisuke murmurs as Demona's jaw drops. "Then he's very special indeed. It would be safe to say he's not the one they want dead then. To have that sort of power under one's thumb would be extremely useful. No doubt Aizen wants him for himself and Yamamoto wants his power to be used solely for the Shinigami he deems so perfect."
"Yes."
"… If this child… Ichigo… is a Shinigami, then there's no contest to where he should be. The Shinigami choose his mate, he's too young to choose him, correct?"
"They threw him into the frontlines the day he became of mating age," the teal haired creature explains. "They forfeited that choice for a quick win."
"Ah! Then they've complicated things all on their own… how like them," he grins.
"But… I thought Shinigami were made of onyx marble," Demona questions.
"They are… why?" Kisuke wonders curiously.
"… Ichigo is a mixture of both."
A strange silence falls over them all, Kisuke's features turning an ash color as he hears this. Grimmjow and Demona wonder what's so wrong, thinking they've upset the group that's stone sleep looks so similar to Ichigo's… and then Yorouchi speaks.
"What does he look like, this mate of yours."
"He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Grimmjow replies honestly. "He's more beautiful than the sunrise with bright orange hair, almost gold amber eyes, and tan skin on a feminine frame."
"… Like this?"
She tosses a photo from the shelf over to the muscular male, who catches it flawlessly. As he gazes upon the picture, his heart skips a beat and his mouth opens just a bit in shock. There, grinning at the camera that took this photo, is a woman that looks just like Ichigo.
"That's… she looks… Who is she?"
"Her name is Masaki," Kisuke smiles sadly. "She was a very close friend of mine… we grew up together. She had volunteered for the evolutionary tests when we had almost completed them, they were nearly perfect… but we didn't have enough females for the breeding tests. She was married to my other best friend, Isshin Kurosaki, and he had volunteered earlier for the last tests of conversion. They were the only two humans allowed in the test, but only because I knew them so well. Isshin was a Shinigami, but Masaki… for some odd reason, it never looked as though the conversion took place within her.
About a month after the accident, Yamamoto began his extermination proposals and I left. Isshin and Masaki came into hiding here with me and my Visoreds, we were the strongest of the clans and we were left alone.
A year passed, and then two. Masaki and Isshin, like the rest of us, never grew older… that was the only way I knew Masaki had been converted and I started testing her blood to find out why she seemed so much more different from us. The testing clarified that she was an odd mix that kept her human blood, but in such a low dose it barely registered. Her abilities were astounding, though mostly suppressed until needed. She was almost completely human… but so much more, like a whole new species.
About nineteen years ago, she asked me for a favor… she wanted to have a baby, but Isshin couldn't reproduce thanks to the conversion. I, on the other hand, still kept a bit of my human blood like her… not as much and I was still mostly Shinigami, but enough. He agreed and I used artificial insemination on her, using my own sperm. It took and she carried… but the day of her due date they were attacked near the edge of my territory. I was too late to save her, too late to help Isshin, all of my Visoreds were drawn to the other border to fight off advancing Espada… that never came. It had never occurred to me that the child may have been targeted and taken, no one knew about it. All the females were capable of carrying the full nine months, but the infants died upon birth…"
"… Ichigo is yours?" Grimmjow says in a small whisper.
Kisuke nods hesitantly, his once sharp and piercing green-blue orbs burning a hole in the tabletop. Everyone is silent, Demona and Grimmjow in shock. What are they supposed to do now? How would Ichigo take this news?