Bleach (c) Tite Kubo

Once More To See You Again

Spark of Curiosity

They don't talk about the hollow at Mum's grave.

But it goes without saying that Grand Fisher is a scumbag to the core. Appropriately the thing was shaped like some revolting parody mix between a hamster and anglerfish. Evidently that warping appendage that first wore mum's then the unknown woman's faces functioned like a lure to snare unsuspecting hapless victim with high reiryoku (heartless or not, one has to wonder what drives these creatures to be so twisted and hateful).

Their mother, Ichigo could understand. The black haired woman, on the other hand... she was conventionally beautiful and all that, maybe a little older than their mother but Ichigo'd never seen her before. Maybe she was a celebrity Kaien secretly had the hots for?

If Ichigo hadn't been too consumed by rage or Kaien struck dumb by a mix of shock and revulsion, they would've noticed Rukia; the unbridled fear when she'd screeched for the helpless Kaien to flee followed by the anguish when the dark haired woman appeared on Grand Fisher's lure.

Whomever that woman was, the entire affair is quietly swept under the rug and they went about their lives. By the time they were back at school the next day, the only evidence anything happened at all were the few band-aids Ichigo still wore on his left cheek, which is easily explained away by an imagined run-in with a bunch of thuggish punks.

Life goes back to its new-ish routine. Ichigo and Rukia go out to hunt Hollows, help souls pass onto Soul Society and come back where Kaien's smuggled them snacks of one description or another.

But its a Wednesday evening in the week after that whole unfortunate business where things take a turn for the worse again, albeit for a less cataclysmic reason.

That crackpot TV Psychic Spirit Hunter or Ghost Bust or whatever its called, declared it's organizing a live broadcast in Karakura town as Yuzu enthusiastically cheers, watching the show after they'd finished dinner.

Ichigo can already feel the dread settling in, and going to school the next day at school is like walking into a madhouse.

Classmates going on often and loudly about the Spirit Hunter live show all day, doing the main star Don'Kanoji's signature 'bo-ha-ha' cross armed pose like its not the most cringe-inducing thing ever.

Every single time Ichigo hears another cheesy over-the-top laugh and that pose, he feels another braincell die.

Though Ichigo does thank whatever lucky stars or gods or anything in between that, for all his annoyingly chirper and upbeat twin's antics, Kaien's not a stark raving mad fan of Spirit Hunter either. His tolerance for the insanity is mirth and indulgence but he generally ignores the nauseating antics going on around him.

"Why don't you want to go?! Don't you know Japan's most popular television show is coming to our town?! Its a once in a lifetime opportunity, why would you want to miss it?!" Keigo's failed attempt to cajole Ichigo lands flat on its face while he's leaning against a window, hoping to get a bit of air and tranquility... a little hard considering most of the kids on the oval who weren't involved in PE are talking about it.

"What's all this 'our town' business? You're from Naruki city. Its only right now you're showing any sort of civic pride in being from this hole in the ground." Ichigo waves a dismissive hand. "Scram, would ya?"

Keigo doesn't miss a trick and quickly changes tactics, switching targets from the sullen twin to the cheerful one sitting at the nearby desk watching the whole exchange with delight. Obviously hoping to find purchase, Keigo presses the attack. "Well, what about you, Kai-?"

"Nope!" Kaien chirps happily without skipping a beat, leaving Keigo's jaw in a crater.

Has Ichigo mentioned he loves his brother today? If not, he probably should. Just not out loud. Never out loud. (He might never be as bad as Goat-Face but Kaien has his moments.)

"But-" Keigo protests weakly.

"Uh-uh." Kaien shakes his head, not losing a millimeter of that ubiquitous smile.

"Kaien, come on - don't be lame-!"

"Nope. Nope. Noppity nope nope nope."

"But if you don't go watch this, you're as good as dead as a Karakura resident." Keigo blares, shifting back to Ichigo pleadingly. "You're a zombie. A zombie, I say!"

"Then I guess that we're Frankenstein's monsters. Fine by me."

"Braaaaaains..." Kaien shambles towards Keigo, putting on terrifyingly convincing zombie gait then laughs heartily when Keigo freaks out. Ichigo hides a smirk, rolling his eyes.

"Don't. Do that!" Keigo squeals in frankly a rather unmanly way.

"But I love to teasing you, you go so ballistic." Kaien responds, the perfect picture of innocence.

"Yeah, I have to agree with him Kaien," Ichigo begins. When Keigo seemingly leaps at the opportunity to gang up on his twin, Ichigo springs his trap. "He wouldn't even have enough brains to cover a rice cracker. Even if you did eat them, I doubt it'd be filling. I'm half convinced you'll actually lose braincells in the exchange."

Kaien chokes back a laugh. "Wow."

"W-w-w-why are you so harsh to me?!" Keigo laments, wailing like a baby.

"As if I wanna chase a stupid fad anyway. Give it another week and everyone'll have forgotten the whole thing ever happened." Ichigo dismisses cynically.

Keigo pushes on, undeterred by the insults going over his head. "Everyone else is going. We've got Mizuiro, Chad, Orihime, and even Tatsuki!"

And there it is.

Ichigo watches the first visible crack form in Kaien's bulwark. That tiny crush rearing it's ugly head and his resolve fractionally wavers.

"Soft." Ichigo mutters under his breath.

"I even went to all that trouble of inviting Rukia along too!" Keigo throws out as a last ditch effort, indicating the Shinigami who politely curtseys with that phony smile.

"Hello everyone, and how are we all doing today?" She greets in that insufferably sweet tone. Girl's become quite the little actress these days.

"Mmm... yeah, nah. Still not going." Kaien says at last, but only a deaf man would miss the utmost reluctance in his tone (plus the fact he's trying very hard to avoid pouting).

Ichigo would've thought it was a low blow, trying to manipulate his brother's candle for Tatsuki like that, but he highly doubts Keigo possesses enough cunning enough for that. That sort of blatant manipulation is more Mizuiro's hat.

But just like that, the Kurosaki twins stick together as they always do and knock down further attempts to invite them out to that stupid live broadcast. Ichigo never enjoyed those shows in the first place and has absolutely no desire to go (plus spirit shows are complete bogus anyway compared to actual hollow hunting), Kaien doesn't want to go because... well, no real excuse there, he just doesn't want to go.

Their classmates spend the better part of the day (except for Tatsuki, as Kaien's quick to defend when Ichigo complains during lunch) trying to change their minds. But if there's a singular trait the twins have in common, its stubbornness. And they stubbornly stuck to their guns by saying no.

That is until the twin boys got home and were faced down by their one greatest weakness, one that reduces every last defence to mush; Yuzu's pleading doe-eyes.

"Please Ichi? Pretty please Kai? It'll be fun, I promise. You don't have to stay the whole time, but we'll get ever so lonely if its just Dad and I going."

Its impossible to say no to that.

Reluctantly agreeing, they retire to their room and wonder whether or not Yuzu is actually as innocent as she appears, and not some diabolical genius deliberately using her adorable charm to manipulate her big brothers into doing whatever she wanted.

The night of the premiere, Kaien stands with his father and two sisters, wearing a casual sky blue shirt and black over shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, jeans and sneakers. He's present under duress but unlike Ichigo he tries (emphasis 'tries') to indulge his crazy father and sister, if only because he's not so callous as to spoil their fun. Kaien might not have any regard for this particular brand of over-the-top camp but he enjoys the fact they are enjoying themselves.

Like him, Karin isn't engaging in any of their shenanigans and is probably wondering how she's related to these two, but as soon as the man of the hours arrives, things take a turn.

The soul that stirs isn't a Hollow but its presence feels no less disgusting for it.

He's wrapped in chains, seemingly bound to the abandon hospital and the chain of fate on his chest is peeling like a scab. Its a grisly sight and Kaien suppresses the urge to wince in sympathy at the half-open hole (he imagines its like having a limb half hanging off). The soul may be arrogant and boastful about this derelict hospital, but even with Kaien's limited knowledge of the afterlife, he knows no one deserves to be trapped like this.

Then that idiot Don Kanoji shoves his cane into the poor bastard's chest! That foul sensation warps into a disgusting pain, twisting like a knife through Kaien's insides. He grits his teeth against it, feeling the pain through the soul's destabilising aura as though he himself was the one with a weapon through the chest. Out of the corner of his eyes, he notices Karin double over with her hands pressed over her ears. His baby sister's suffering overtly barrels through his own discomfort and Kaien has his arm around her shoulders, guiding her against him as support.

Meanwhile, his eyes scanning the crowd frantically for Ichigo and Rukia.

Fortunately, they're already on the move.

Ichigo vaults over the rope line and charges towards Kanoji, getting maybe four paces before security jump him. Rukia doesn't get much further either before she's dogpiled.

Damn it, they don't have time for this.

The chains on that poor soul are breaking and Kaien knows that definitely isn't a good sign. If they don't act soon that soul's gonna get destroyed! He's about ready to let Karin go and jump over the railing himself when a random blond guy with a stripped hat and jabs Ichigo out of his body with the tip of his cane.

Momentarily, Kaien's gaze lands on the man who greets Ichigo and Rukia with a wave of his fan and the giant with dreadlocks and an apron standing behind him. He accosts Rukia but when the security guards make an issue of it, he uses a hand-held device that Kaien can't quite make out (but reminds him a hell of a lot of Rukia's memory replacement rabbit thing) then promptly scarper with Ichigo's body.

Watching Ichigo lose his mind at strangers will never not be funny, but the gravity of the situation prevents Kaien from taking any amusement from it.

Regrettably Ichigo's intervention came too late and the soul's form explodes. Kaien's own spirits drop followed by a righteous anger at the self-proclaimed spiritualist announcing his victory, the frowns.

Wait a minute.

If the spirit was destroyed then why does Kaien still that disgusting aura? Point of fact; its intensified by an order of magnitude.

Before there was something salvageable to it, a fragment of humanity clinging to the edge by its fingertips. Now its become monstrously cold and chilling.

Kaien blinks then grimaces in disgust when he sees the exploded pieces of the spirit reform into something humanoid but not human on top of the hospital. The disparate pieces meld into a warped fusion of a frog and gecko. The human head painfully wriggles and bursts out of the neck stump, wailing before white ichor spills from the poor bastards orifices, sweeping back and solidifying into a bone white mask with a gaping maw.

That's how a Hollow is born?

Terrible fascination keeps his eyes glued to the monster, but what disturbs Kaien more is a strange other sense. He could feel more than the malaise of its presence, he feels... almost like something deep in his spirit stirs, resonating with the Hollow. Empathizing with it's pain, sense of loss, loneliness and despair, culminating in a horrific rage and hunger.

Kaien frowns and shakes his head, burying it. He knows he should do something, anything, but the hard reality is even if he wanted to there's no way he could help. A fact that's making him increasingly sick with anger lately.

"There's nothing I can do..." Kaien's mutters to himself, sounding uncharacteristically bitter and defeated and completely ignorant to the questioning glance Karin gives him.

His father's hand lands on his back, knocking him off balance and distracting him. "No need to make such a gloomy face, son. You're not responsible for your idiot brother's behaviour. I'll just have to lecture his ears off about shaming our family when we get back home." His father caps it off by ruffling Kaien's hair, which he feebly protests to, then proceeds to entreaty the heavens while drawing judgmental or derisive glances from strangers. "OH MOTHER - HOW COULD OUR PRECIOUS FIRSTBORN BE SO RECKLESS!"

Despite the uneasy in his spirit, Kaien couldn't stop the sound escaping his throat that's equal parts mirth, exasperation and indulgence.

When the idiot spiritualist stands atop the hospital proclaiming victory with his trademark cringy pose and haughty laugh, Kaien makes up another excuse to his dad and sisters then slips away while the show is winding down. The production crews are busy taking things apart and the crowd will disperse little by little now the main event is over.

Dad's probably going to hand Ichigo's ass to him on a silver platter. As much as Kaien would love watching for the sake of schadenfreude, he's got bigger fish to fry.

Since he'd arrive, Kaien kept his attention split between Ichigo duking it out with frog Hollow and the seedy man with the hat who seems to be acquainted with Ichigo and Rukia. Ichigo offhandedly mentioned a man he'd encountered, referring to him as 'Mr Hat and clogs', when he'd explained the situation about how they managed to snag Kon as a roommate(-slash-pet?).

Given how they greeted each other on friendly terms, the safest assumption is this guy is that Mr. Hat and Clogs (Seriously Ichigo, please learn a person's name). Although at one point, when Ichigo, the Hollow and Kanoji were inside the hospital, the man turned his gaze to look directly at Kaien with an enigmatic smile and subtly inclines his head in greeting.

That sent a chill of panic down Kaien's spine. He returned the gesture quickly and focused on the spectacle in front of them. But his curiosity piqued. Perhaps dangerously so.

Despite seemingly appearing out of thin air during the premiere, tailing the duo is shockingly easy.

Kaien trailed after them, keeping a distance of about fifty meters on the outside. He wouldn't dare venture closer and made sure to keep himself as conspicuous as possible despite it being this late at night.

Being furtive will do him no favours here, although Kaien's not exactly certain what he wants from the hat-wearing man and his giant companion.

Did he want to ask them questions? If so, questions about what? How they managed to kick Ichigo out of his body? How much they knew about Shinigami? The Hollows? About the Spirit world in general? He didn't know.

That realization puts a heavy break on Kaien's drive to track these guys down.

He chews his lip, glancing away for a second then grunting in frustration. Damn it, he's always chastising Ichigo for rushing headlong into stupid stunts without a plan, and here he was doing the same thing.

Hypocritical much, Kaien? He scolds himself before looking back. His eyes widen in shock.

"They've disappeared?" Kaien pries himself out of the shadow of a telephone pool and scans his surroundings.

For all intents and purposes, he's the only one on this stretch of road. It makes no sense. There's no way a person could simply... vanish from sight. Its impossible. His lips press in a crooked line. Well, maybe he should reconsider that statement considering 'impossible' is pretty ill defined in his world these days.

"Who disappeared?" Then someone whispers right by his ear.

"MOTHER OF-!" Kaien jumps out of his skin in fright before clamping both hands over his mouth in embarrassment, forgetting himself in the residential district and praying that no one hear his voice cracking outburst. He hopes he hadn't woken anyone this late at night.

"Good evening~!" The man waves his fan in greeting, a wide cheeky grin on his face and doubtlessly pleased he'd scared the living daylights out of the teenager.

A vein pops on Kaien's temple and he hisses. "What the hell do you think you're doing sneaking up on a guy like that?"

The man hide his face behind his fan, grey eyes wide with bemusement. "Why, I do believe that would be my line, young man. What would a fine young gentleman such as yourself be doing skulking about this district at such a late hour? Would you happen to have some business with me? Is there something you'd like to discuss?"

The man leans back, putting on a skittish act, "Or perhaps you mean to mug me? How dastardly."

"I'm not a thief and I resent the implication." Kaien snaps, crossing his arms.

"Oh really? My mistake." The man teases, delighted Kaien swallowed his bait. "But you must admit, your actions do garner a certain level of suspicion."

Now you're stealing my lines. Kaien doesn't say, pursing his lips.

Clearly Kaien hadn't been as subtle as he hoped.

With that disappearing act in mind, Kaien half-wonders if this guy had some gizmo that screwed up his sight. Both this guy and Rukia have access to magic memory manipulation technology from the Soul Society, like those flashing things out of that western sci-fi movie, it wouldn't shock Kaien to discover that he might've already walked right past this guy a block or two ago, and he'd set things up just so he could revenge-prank Kaien for following him. This guy does strike Kaien as that sort of person.

But now he's been discovered and has the opportunity to ask even one of the billion questions he's been wondering about since Rukia showed up in their lives, Kaien's mind is infuriatingly blank. He falls back on the first thing that pops back into his head.

"I saw you earlier at that rally." Kaien states. More blurted out, really.

"Yes. I noticed. You were observing me with a particularly keen interest I might add." He says with a knowing smile, "Is there something I can help you with?"

Kaien turns to face the man. "Who exactly are you?"

"My name is Kisuke Urahara, I am but a humble candy store owner."

The first half Kaien believes, the second half he doesn't.

Mostly because like with the Hollow tonight, he finds he can sense more to this man (his ability to see and sense ghosts as grown exponentially this past month, to the point where he's becoming concerned). Kaien can see the power under the surface as clearly as daylight, a sizeable wellspring that would easily crush the likes of Rukia and Ichigo into paste.

"And you would be Ichigo Kurosaki's younger brother, would you not?"

"He's only five minutes older than me." Kaien grumbles under his breath, then louder to Urahara, "I'm Kaien. Kurosaki, obviously."

"Obviously. I suspect you hear this quite often, but you and your brother look very much alike, save the colour differences. However, you seem to possess a great deal more cheer about you than Ichigo does." The Shopkeeper notes.

"One of us needs to be the happy one and it sure ain't him." Kaien offers with a half-shrug.

"I suppose that is so. Very well then, shall we get down to business; to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this fine evening, Kaien?" The Shopkeeper asks with a genial smile while gently fanning himself. "Or have you come to thank us for that mop-up work we did recently with the rampant mod soul; you call him Kon now, don't you?"

Kaien blinks, taken aback. "Wait, that was you? I thought that was Rukia?"

"Miss Kuchiki and myself, yes." Urahara nods cheerfully, "After all, it was our fault for selling a defective product in the first place, therefore it was Urahara Shop's responsibility to clean up the mess and pay for any of the damages to ensure customer satisfaction. On a related note; congratulations on winning second place in your championships. It would've been a shame had that unfortunate spot of business cost you your position in the races."

Now he just feels awkward, "Uh... well, thank you. I guess. I'm not too sure how I feel about you knowing that much about me."

"I keep an eye on Ichigo and Rukia, they're two of my best repeat customers. By virtue of how much time you spend with them, its only natural that I hear reports of your dealings too. I mean nothing by it."

Kaien's not too sure he believes him, feeling a creeping dread in his stomach.

"Oh come now, don't look so glum. You almost seem like you're expecting me to turn around and dispose of you in some cruel way or another for following us home."

"Hey. You said it, not me." Kaien interjects quickly, clinging to humour as a defensive mechanism.

"I wouldn't dare dream of doing something that cruel to the kin of a dear friend and I'm offended by the accusation. There's no need to look so terrified either. Curiosity is healthy for a boy your age. I presume you followed me because you have questions. If you'd like, I'd be willing to answer them at some other time. My shop is just around the corner there. Feel free to drop by any time you wish after school, and if you'd be so kind, I'd be honoured to have your patronage. I'm certain there's more than a few things in my wares that might interest you." Urahara lifts his cane and points to a back alley passage way about twenty metres down the path.

"However, might I offer some unsolicited advice?" The shopkeeper fans himself before the article clacks shut, both his eyes and tone turning dark and foreboding. "There are many secrets in this world, this one and the next, and not everyone is as forgiving of prying eyes as I am. Curiosity is a powerful thing but it's dangerous in equal measure. Take care to ensure yours won't become your own undoing."

Kaien swallows down a lump in his throat before giving a shallow nod to show his understanding.

"Run along now. Doubtless your family will be worried about you staying out this late."

It doesn't take much convincing, Kaien turns and runs at a dead sprint back home.

Author's note:

Mmm. Kaien's senses are growing stronger, more tangible. And something within him is stirring. I wonder what? :3

Regards,

Aurora313