The Ties that Bind

Standard Disclaimers Apply

"This is as clean as it's going to be," Karin muttered. She looked around the house and watched her twin carry two bags of luggage next to her. "You ready?"

Yuzu nodded.

"The taxi should be here soon. Is Hime-nee ready?"

Yuzu calmly waited for a reply and peered curiously at Karin, who looked like she was a million miles away.

"Karin?"

"Huh?"

"I was asking if Hime-nee is ready."

Karin nodded and pushed a certain Shinigami out of her head.

"I think so. Let me go check. Maybe she needs help."

"Call me if you need more help!" Yuzu shouted as Karin practically ran towards Orihime's room.

Yuzu stood patiently and waited for the taxi, occasionally giving a sigh when she heard her sister and their father argue. She gazed tiredly at the destruction around her, and her mind wandered towards the boy called Kakei. There was something familiar about him, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Come on," she whispered impatiently. Where is the taxi?"

She sighed and sat on one of the luggage. She started to block out the faint sound of arguments when something practically swooped her into their arms from where she was sitting. A loud explosion drowned her scream, and all she could see was the color red while someone hastily but gently drop her onto the ground.

"Stay here!" she was ordered.

Because of the cloud, smoke, and debris, Yuzu could just barely make out a red blur and two crows flying away, but she immediately forgot all about the mysterious person when she saw what remained of their house being destroyed again. She tried to scramble to an upright position, but she found herself stuck to the ground, as if an invisible force was keeping her in place. Tears swelled in her eyes as another explosion rocked the ground.

Back at the house, Isshin swore as he sheltered Karin from the explosions. He felt a powerful new reiatsu, one that he did not recognize, and he looked frantically around for Orihime and her son, as well as for Yuzu.

"Karin? Where's your sister?"

"Outside," the dark-haired twin coughed. "She was waiting for the taxi!"

As quickly as it began, the explosion stopped. There was now next to nothing left of their house, or the clinic. He could see the faint glow of Orihime's shield as the dust settled. She looked at them, relief clear in her eyes, and he gave a small nod. The danger had not passed, however, as the reiatsu was still there. Isshin carefully covered his daughter and walked her over to Orihime. As soon as they were close enough, the shield expanded to cover them as well.

"Yuzu-nee! Yuzu-nee!" Sora sobbed.

"Shhh, Sora! Your Yuzu-nee is safe," Orihime whispered, patting his back to soothe and calm him down.

"Isshin-san?"

"I can't see her, but I know she's safe," he replied softly while scanning their surroundings.

"How can you be so sure?" Karin asked with worry.

She looked around wildly, desperate to find a glimpse of her sister.

"I'm impressed, Orihime," a rich, handsome voice said. "I was so sure you lost your powers when you gave birth to your son. It appears, however, that I was wrong."

Orihime, Karin, and Isshin started when they heard the stranger's voice. Sora stopped crying. Isshin drew his zanpakuto and changed his body stance to prepare for a fight. The unfamiliar man dressed in red-hooded robe approached them, followed by five men, all wearing similar outfits to the men Isshin and Hitsugaya fought earlier.

"Who are you?" Karin growled.

The stranger chuckled and stepped closer.

"Feeling a bit aggressive, aren't we?"

Orihime held Sora tighter. She was glad he had stopped crying, but there was something almost unnatural about his silence.

"It's unfortunate that things went this far, all this could have been avoided if you had agreed to come, Hime."

Isshin's eyes widened in surprise when the speaker removed his hood with an ungloved hand. It'd only been for a split second, but it was enough time for him to see the symbol tattooed on the man's hands.

The symbol for those who had long been banished.

"My name is Seishiro. Our clan was banished from Soul Society, years even before you became a Shinigami."

Seishiro glanced at Isshin Kurosaki and was not surprised to see no trace of recognition. The banishment of his clan was long before Kurosaki's time.

"And now, the time is near for my clan to reclaim what is rightfully ours. Soul Society will come under my rule, as it was meant to."

"What does that have to do with Orihime?"

Seishiro chuckled at Isshin's question.

"The great Yamamoto has not informed you?"

Isshin gripped the hilt of his weapon.

"What are you talking about?"

Seishiro's grin grew wider.

"Well, if Yamamoto-sama does not wish to inform you, then who am I to tell?"

Inside the shield, Karin rubbed Sora's back. Ever since this Seishiro had revealed himself, Sora hadn't made a sound. He was looking at their new enemy with an intensity that seemed frightening for a boy as little and young as Sora.

Seishiro knew that the diversion he created to keep the other Shinigami would not delay them forever. They had to make their move now.

"Last chance, Hime," Seishiro smiled, though it looked more like he was baring his teeth. "I'm trying to play nice here. Come with us, and I will spare everyone's life."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Orihime replied, her voice firm and without fear.

Seishiro laughed.

"Be my guest, Hime. Remember, the decision was yours!"

With one slash, Orihime's shield shattered, and Isshin used all his strength and speed to move his family away.

"This fight is mine!" Seishiro commanded his men when Isshin returned to attack.

The eldest Kurosaki matched Seishiro's attacks, but he knew that he couldn't fight Seishiro and protect Karin, Orihime, and Sora at the same time.

As the two of them fought, Orihime began to worry. She didn't know who these new people were, or what exactly they wanted from her. What alarmed her the most was the taunt given by Seishiro earlier.

"The great Yamamoto has not informed you?"

Sora began to move restless again, and Orihime tried to soothe her son but to no avail. She held him tighter but froze when she saw something below the nape of Sora's neck.

When Sora was born, there had been no birthmark anywhere on his body. Orihime touched the faint mark in wonder. It looked similar to her beloved hair pins.

"Yaji!"

Sora's worried scream brought Orihime back to the present, and she gasped in horror when she saw the blood dripping from Isshin's arms.

"Daddy!"

Orihime caught Karin's arm before she could move.

"Karin! No!" she ordered.

"Playtime's over!" Seishiro called out and motioned one of his men to come forward. "Kiba!"

The man called Kiba nodded, and Orihime didn't have time to react before a strong wind separated her from Karin. The dust made it hard to keep her eyes open, and she could feel herself getting swept away by the wind. She held Sora in her arms and for one moment, she heard a voice she thought she'd never hear again.

"Oi, woman, let your son go. We'll take it from here."

"Tsu—Tsubaki?!"

"Are you deaf, woman? Trust us, we'll keep him safe!"

And all of a sudden, she felt the full presence of her Shun Shun Rikka.

"We'll protect him, Orihime-san!" Ayame gently assured her. "We'll take care of Isshin-san and Karin-san too! Don't worry!"

Giving her trust to her Shun Shun Rikka, Orihime released Sora and used her hands to steady herself. As soon as her palms hit the ground, the wind stopped, and the dust one again settled. She looked in wonder at Karin and Sora, who were behind a shield, while Isshin was being healed by Ayame and Shun'o.

"I'm even more impressed now, Hime."

Orihime froze when Seishiro knelt down before her, and they came face to face. He was so close, and there was something deep inside of her that wanted to be released, to lash out at this enemy. Seishiro watched in wonder as Orihime's eyes glinted, a spark of gold glittered before disappearing.

"I'm not afraid of you," she voiced serenely.

Before Seishiro could reply, he felt a strong force push him away from Orihime, who remained on the ground. Any ordinary human would have watched Orihime and seen nothing, but he was no human. The dust around Orihime began to swirl, and he knew Orihime's true powers were slowly appearing. Nadeshiko's stunt of jealousy had awoken Orihime's dormant powers, but his presence was further pushing her powers to the surface.

He knew that this was it. If he failed now, he may never get a second chance to win. With no other option but to hurt Orihime in order to force her to come with him, Seishiro made up his mind. He appeared behind her and grabbed her arms.

"Let me go!"

Seishiro smirk at Orihime and leaned closer. His breath teased her ear.

"Not a chance, Hime."

He watched in wonder as the golden glint in her eyes returned, and the smirk disappeared when he felt a strange power course through her body. In that instant, he knew his time was almost up.

Unable to move, Orihime felt a force within her that told her to fight back, but before she could blink, a jolt of electricity paralyzed her, and she screamed. She felt the power inside of her fighting back, but the strength of the electricity grew stronger. Her vision blurred and darkness overcame her.

Seishiro released Orihime, and she collapsed on the ground. He could almost feel victory in his grasp as he prepared to leave with Orihime.

"SEISHIRO!"

Isshin's eyes snapped open. Kakei had returned. He barely noticed Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka when he stood up and watched the young boy. Even with the mask, Isshin could see the raw anger radiating from Kakei. He turned his head slightly, and when saw Orihime lying on the ground unconscious, and immediately he felt the same rage.

Kakei tried to control his emotions. He knew he couldn't make any sudden movements that would endanger his mother.

"What the hell are you doing here, bastard?!"

Seishiro sneered and faced Kakei.

"What took you so long?" he taunted. "I expected you earlier, brat."

"You really thought your stupid stunt was going to keep me from coming?" Kakei retorted as he moved closer.

Seishiro grinned menacingly.

"Just in case you haven't noticed, I've already won!"

Seishiro crouched down and prepared to take Orihime in his arms. Kakei roared in anger and moved towards Seishiro with so much speed and power, the ground he glided over shattered as if it were suffering through an earthquake. Seishiro was barely able to block a bare handed strike from Sora, who hadn't slowed down as he lodged another attack.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" he roared.

Kakei released his zanpakuto and raised it towards Seishiro, who immediately drew his own sword.

"Koten Zanshun!"

Isshin and Karin shielded their eyes from the blinding light Kakei's attack had emitted. Kakei continued to fight Seishiro, bursts of light searing the air every time their zanpakutos met. It took all of Seishiro's power to dodge the young man's attacks.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!"

Sora's words echoed through Isshin's head and suddenly he understood the familiarity he'd felt with Kakei. But how was it possible that the young man currently in the midst of battle and the young baby nestled safely with them were the same person?

Another explosion rocked the earth and shook Isshin out of his memories.

"Did he just...?"

Karin couldn't finish her question as she watched the fight in awe. She'd seen her brother battle, but she'd never seen her brother fight with such intensity and power. Completely entranced in the fight before them, Karin and Isshin failed to notice little Sora leave the shield and crawl walk toward his unconscious mother.

Kakei feigned to the left and saw his younger version. His eyes widened slightly because knew that Seishiro had too. The exiled Shinigami unleashed another electric attack that hit Kakei in the chest, stunning him momentarily, but that was the only opening Seishiro needed. He flew at the helpless child, and Sora willed his body to move faster.

"I won't make it!" he thought frantically.

Before Seishiro was within fifteen feet of Orihime, a figure blocked his path and held a protective stance over the young mother and her son.

Seishiro snarled as he saw the man that came between him and his prize.

"YOU!"

Ichigo Kurosaki kept his zanpakuto raised towards this stranger. He had been away Karakura for so long. He'd thought of a million and one scenarios on what would welcome him on his return, but this was not one of them.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded coldly.

Karin could hardly believe her eyes. Her brother was finally here! She wanted to jump for joy, to run and greet him, but there were too many things going on. He was dressed handsomely in his Shinigami uniform, and he looked taller, a little older. The strength she could sense from him was stronger then when he left.

"Seishiro-sama! The others are here!"

Seishiro glared at Ichigo with all the hatred he possessed.

"I'll be back, Ichigo Kurosaki. You can count on it."

There was a time when Ichigo would've taunted this stranger, caused the fight to go longer, but now, he was older, wiser, and appreciated the tactics behind battles outside of just physical fighting alone.

Seishiro disappeared along with his men, and Ichigo came face to face with a masked stranger who regarded him with complete loathing.

"About time you showed up," Kakei muttered angrily at his unknowing father.

Ichigo ignored the masked stranger and looked curiously at the orange haired baby that had curled up beside Orihime's unconscious body.

Baby Sora smiled at Ichigo and gurgled happily. He began to wiggle and grabbed a fist of his mother's hair.

"Ichi-nii?"

Before Ichigo could move, Karin wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and cried, "You came back!"

Isshin sighed as he watched Karin sob quietly. Ichigo put a comforting hand on his sister's head.

"Ichi-nii, is that really you?" Yuzu said with tears in her eyes.

She approached her family cautiously, completely unscathed.

"Yuzu! What happened to you?" Isshin asked urgently.

Even though he knew she was safe, he had still worried during her short disappearance. He ran to her and enveloped her in a big hug.

"I don't know. I was waiting for the taxi, and then I was just…carried away."

"By who?" Isshin inquired gently.

Yuzu shook her head and said, slightly confused, "I don't know. All I saw was this red blur..."

"Did he have a pair of crows with him?" Kakei asked softly.

Yuzu nodded and wondered why Kakei swore.

"Do you know who he was, Kakei-kun?"

At her question, both Karin and Isshin looked at Kakei, who they now knew was Sora. They both looked at each other and wondered how to approach the issue with this grown up Sora.

"What the hell happened here?!" Ichigo demanded. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask, but the most important was Orihime, and that baby who kept on laughing at him. "Who is this?"

Kakei glared at Ichigo as he watched his father point at his younger self.

"If you ever considered others and stopped leaving all the damn time, you'd know!"

Before Ichigo could reply, Isshin stepped in between the father and son.

"Karin, why don't you take Yuzu and Kakei-kun somewhere for a walk?" he suggested.
"I'm sure Kakei-kun has many things he wishes to say."

Karin nodded Isshin gave Kakei a stern nod. Knowing that he did have many explanations to give, he followed Isshin's orders and walked off with the twins. Isshin gazed at his daughters and grandson, and he felt a deep sense of pride, having a glimpse of what Sora would grow up to be.

Once the trio disappeared from sight, Isshin crouched down and gave a playful tap on Sora's head.

"Sora-chan, meet your father. Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise.

"Dad? What…what do you mean?"

"Ichigo," Isshin said patiently, "this is your son Sora."

Sora giggled and he watched Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka hover protectively around them. He absently grabbed at them with this little hands. Isshin looked up and thanked his healers, who smiled and waved in return. Ichigo followed his father's gaze and frowned.

"Oi, what about Orihime? Aren't you going to do anything for her?"

"She's fine, idiot. Did you think we'll just fly around here if she was in danger?" Tsubaki snapped and hovered closer to Ichigo's face. "About time you showed—aaarrgghhh!"

Tsubaki never had the chance to finish what he was going to say because Sora grabbed him by the leg and stuck his foot inside his mouth. Ayame, Baigon, Hinagiku, Lily and Shun'o cried out in horror and pleaded for Sora to let Tsubaki go. Sora took Tsubaki out of his mouth but kept a firm hold on his legs. He smiled brightly and giggled.

"YOU!!! I save your life and this is how you treat me?" Tsubaki yelled, utterly affronted, and was only rewarded with Sora's laughter.

"Wha...what happened?"

Orihime slowly moved as she regained further consciousness, and Ichigo knelt down by her in worry.

"Orihime, are you all right?" he asked softly and cradled her head.

Orihime slowly opened her eyes and came face to face with the man that's been in her dreams since he'd left all that time ago. Unsure if he was real or not, she slowly raised her hands and touched his face, afraid that he would disappear. He didn't.

Ichigo held her hands in his, one on his face, the other over his heart.

"You're here," she whispered. "You're real."

She felt her heart leap with joy.

"I promised you I'd return," he replied softly and wiped her tears away. "I'm home, Orihime."

TbC

phew Well, there you have it. Ichigo's back. Why did he leave? That's for another chapter 

Thank you so much for all your comments, I really appreciate them. A big applause for EternalDream AKA AngelCat HellFire, for being the best beta ever!