Chapter Seven: Standing to Defend You

Ichigo was silent on the way back to his home. He was worried about the true objective behind the most recent assault on Karakura. Why would the Espada just attack out of the blue like that? It just didn't make any sense at all. It was if they were trying to gauge the defenses before they pulled off the big heist.

He growled in his throat. Grimmjow hadn't been much of a help either. The Espada had been given no information at all about why they had been sent. Of course, it didn't help that the idiot had gotten thrown out, either. Ichigo sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in order to try and relieve some of the tension.

As he got within sight of the clinic, he pretended not to notice the Shinigami that were hanging around his house. His face did not change expression, but he allowed himself a little smirk on the inside. It must be because of the sudden disappearance of his little sisters yesterday afternoon. His father must have panicked and had sent every available Shinigami who would listen in search of them.

Ichigo opened the door to the clinic, only to be assaulted by the most infamous goat-chin this side of the river. Isshin pointed towards Ichigo and angrily yelled, "Where have you been, delinquent? Don't you know I don't allow sons of mine to stay out of the house all night?"

Ichigo picked himself up off the ground and kicked his father in the chest. "I don't want to deal with you this morning, old man! I've just gotten back from the library, if you were really concerned about my welfare. I had to finish up a research assignment."

Isshin got up off of the floor and dusted himself off. "I don't care about you." He cried a couple of rivers as he continued, "I just want to see my beautiful daughters one more time before I die!"

Ichigo responded by whacking his father upside the head. "They're not gone forever, idiot. They told me last night that they were going to spend the night at a friend's house. Now would you please shut up so I can eat breakfast in peace?"

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"Oi, Ichigo, over here!" Tatsuki waved him over to where she and the others had gathered for lunch. They were all grouped together, the ones who had visited soul society making sure not to talk about hollows in front of those who had never seen them before. As he was making his way over to them, he noticed that Rukia had a worried expression on her face, even though Mizuiru and Keigo were actually there today.

He glanced in her direction, before glancing at Mizuiru. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that Mizuiru and Rukia had something going on. Nah, like that could ever happen. He glanced at both of them again, and the image of kids that had the irritating factors of both of them showed themselves to his imagination.

He shuddered and sat down next to Chad. He hoped that even if they did get together after all this, that their kids would miraculously not take after their parents. He looked over to his left and noticed that that one red-haired Shinigami was walking over to them. His scowl deepened as he tried to remember the idiot's name. What in the world was it? Really, he knew every single word for every single spell, knew the names of all of his subordinates, heck, he even knew the name of every available type of Pocky in existence. Yet, for the life of him, he could not recall a single thing about him.

Then it suddenly hit him, Renji was his name! Phew, that was awfully close. When Ichigo finished his lunch, he kicked Renji out of the way so he could throw his trash away. He then turned around and muttered a cynical, "Sorry, Renji, didn't see you there." before asking everybody else if they needed something form the vending machines. After receiving everybody's orders, he left the group to retrieve them. Before the doors closed behind him, Keigo and Mizuiru both managed to catch the glare sent their way.

The glare simply meant one thing, "Talk about out Vaizard business, and I won't let you die."

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As Ichigo was gone, giving the others to talk more freely about supernatural matters, discussion eventually found its way to the hottest topic in their minds. That topic was none other than the fact that Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki had both disappeared yesterday afternoon, and their father had freaked out. It was understandable though, they were his daughters after all.

They tried to inquire about where Mizuiru and Keigo had been the last couple of weeks, but had no luck in trying to pry information. Then Tatsuki and Renji tag team interrogated them. But just as it seemed they were about to crumble to the twin fiery wills, Ichigo arrived back on the rooftop.

He had a whole bunch of snacks tucked under one arm, while Shinji stood behind him with another armload. Ichigo walked over to them and actually smiled in public for once, "I hope you don't mind that I brought along Shinji. He seemed to be depressed and emo all by himself, so I decided to let him eat lunch with us. You guys don't have a problem with it, do you?"

Mizuiru and Keigo were trying not to laugh, they really were, but it was just really, really, hard. They excused themselves for a moment as they went downstairs, before laughing like they had never laughed before. Tears of laughter in their eyes, they made their way back to the impromptu gathering, only to hear Tatsuki say, "You two just get more and more stupid by the day, don't you?"

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As Ichigo was waling away from school, he noticed that he was being tailed by Renji. He did not let on that he noticed Renji, but decided to use his spiritual senses to continuously check for danger from the Shinigami. As he passed the old fruit vendor, about five to ten huge hollows suddenly attacked.

Renji's eyes widened when he sensed the hollows, and immediately swallowed some soul candy in order to transform back into a Shinigami. He gripped Zabimaru tight as he jumped in the air to strike at the head of the closest hollow. He turned, only to see Ichigo about to be injured by a hollow.

Renji tried to move as fast as he could, but he could not stop the descent of the hollow's claws from hitting the orange haired high school student. Just before the attack hit however, Renji heard one word and one word only, as Ichigo lifted a finger and pointed it towards the hollow.

"Byakurai." Ichigo said calmly. When he said this, a bolt of lightning shot out of his finger, and destroyed the hollow instantly. He then turned towards Renji and said, "Good afternoon, Shinigami, how might I be of assistance to you today." He then snapped his fingers, and his appearance changed to that of the hooded, sunglasses wearing, Vaizard.

He bowed slightly at the waist towards the Vice-Captain, "I'm sorry if I alarmed you, sir, but I like to use other people's appearances when I bait hollows. Now if you will excuse me, I have things that need to be taken care of." He then disappeared in a haze as he shun-po'd away.

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Shaolin sighed as she walked around the convenient store. This was why it was always such a pain when she went to the real world for extended periods. She never had everything that she needed when she arrived, and always had to restock on supplies. She moved throughout the isles, glad that this particular store was owned and operated by an elderly Vaizard couple.

Many people in Soul Society thought that the Vaizard had used forbidden techniques in order to become what they were. That was far from the truth. They used forbidden techniques to suppress and dominate their inner-hollows. This was only done by the elite, as the common Vaizard only had limited control over his hollow's powers. The average Vaizard was in actuality stronger than the average Shinigami, but there were far more normal Shinigami than there were Vaizard.

The Vaizard were a people who had had to live in the shadows since there had been someone in power in Soul Society. They had been persecuted and hunted, before realizing that they must submerge themselves within the larger Shinigami population if they were to have any hope of survival. So they did just that, and had grown and flourished as a people.

As Shaolin was leaving the store, she bumped into somebody who was walking in. The other woman was knocked back, startling both women. The other woman's eyes widened when she saw who she had collided into. Shaolin did not stop to talk, so Yoroichi had no choice but to try and make sense of what she had just seen.

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TBC…