Not much to say today. Enjoy!

"Whaaat?!" Yoruichi yelled. "You showed him? Kisuke, you moron! You know I wanted to see his reaction!"

"I've got it on video?" Urahara offered.

Yoruichi frowned. "That's not as good as actually being there," she complained.

Urahara shrugged. "He asked. It was too good an opportunity to waste."

Ichigo, Tatsuki, Karin, Yuzu, and Orihime were watching the exchange with hidden and not-so-hidden grins, though Ichigo's was a bit annoyed with how much the woman wanted to see him act silly. When they had heard that Urahara's friend was visiting the shop again, they had gone to meet her. It had been a while since they'd last seen the cat-like woman. She had been Tatsuki's, Orihime's and Chad's teacher for a while, and had helped them to develop and control their powers after they had gained them. She had at first introduced herself as a cat named Yoruichi, and by the time she had revealed she was actually a woman, they had gotten used to using her first name. She was a fun person, even though she took unholy delight in teasing people. Ichigo in particular, but that was probably because she was a Shinigami and would therefore never get tired of seeing a Hollow flustered.

Uryuu, Chad, and Rukia weren't there to watch the show with them. Rukia because she was patrolling, Chad because he was busy with his band, and Uryuu because he didn't feel like socializing with the eccentric Shinigami of the Shoten.

The fair had been a great success. Rukia had proven surprisingly adept at knocking down stacks of cups and was now the proud owner of three foot tall bunny plushy, and Uryuu had easily conquered all shooting games. He had divided his prizes over the girls. Tatsuki had dumped most of hers on them as well, much to their delight.

Yuzu and Orihime had picked a cat plushy from their large pile of winnings to give to the cat lady. The plushy was black, fluffy, and as large as a dog. Tatsuki had laughed when she had seen the thing at the booths and had insisted on winning it because it resembled their mentor. She had given it to the other girls as a joke, but hadn't expected the girls to pick it as a gift for Yoruichi instead.

Naturally, she had laughed at that too. And she wasn't the only one. Yoruichi had spent the first couple of minutes of the meeting snickering over it, claiming that it was perfect, and had promptly decided it therefore needed a central position in the sitting room.

Urahara had sighed at her antics.

After that Yuzu had happily given Urahara a plushy too – a fox with pale yellow fur wearing a kimono and a fan, much to the cat woman's amusement – as a thank you for making Ichigo's gigai, at which Shihouin had made her displeasure about being excluded from the event known.

"Don't worry," Tatsuki told the pouting woman. "We didn't get to see it either."

Yoruichi got a sharp look in her eyes at that. "Really now?" she purred, a devious smile curling her lips. "In that case, he owes both of us. I vote for a feast. With treats before and after. And sake. Lots of sake."

Tatsuki and the others snickered at the hunted look that crossed Urahara's face when Yoruichi started to approach him, the threat of mayhem ringing with every step she took.

"I'll see what I can arrange," he promised hastily.

He was such a pushover sometimes.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Kisuke sighed and took a moment of to enjoy the quiet of the evening outside. Kurosaki and his friends had just left – after almost eating him out of house and home, he might add, thanks to his lovely, treacherous friend, who had decided to leave with them so she could tease them further – when the young Kuchiki came in. Kisuke watched her curiously from his place on the porch as she approached him. The number of times he had talked to her could be counted on one hand, so he had to wonder about her reasons.

Only he really didn't, because he could almost see the uncounted questions swirl around in her head. Probably all to do with Kurosaki, and thus likely questions Kurosaki couldn't answer himself.

Kisuke was aware of the rapidly developing friendship between those two. Approved even. Heavens knew that that boy could use more friends. The kid was isolated enough already.

Kisuke truly felt terrible about having to use that. But needs must. To hide his slightly gloomy mood, Kisuke plastered on a fake smile and greeted the little Kuchiki with unnecessary enthusiasm.

He would never get tired of the borderline uncomfortable looks he got for that. Messing with people was just too much fun. It cheered him right up.

Unfortunately, that it did not deter the little Kuchiki. Pity. He would have liked to have the remainder of the evening to himself, after the mess his friend and his young acquaintances had made. Yoruichi was a dear friend, but good grief, was the woman exhausting when she put her mind to it.

Or maybe it was just him. After everything that had happened, he had gotten used to quiet and solitude. Yoruichi could be calm on her own, but with Ichigo and the other kids present she had the habit to be loud and energetic, if only to constantly needle the kids into focusing on other things than Kurosaki-kun's sad situation. The children fretted a lot about that even though Kurosaki-kun's prospects had improved tremendously, and even if it wasn't out loud, it was obvious as the light of day to Yoruichi and himself. It was depressing and made them feel very old, so neither Yoruichi or Kisuke liked the children in that mood.

Kisuke just wished Yoruichi used more quiet methods to cheer them up. Today had been tiring.

Yes, he would have liked some peace and quiet. Alas, Kuchiki-chan had decided that it was not to be.

"Um, Urahara-san?" the small female asked uncertainly, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve. "Could I maybe ask you a few things?"

"I will not necessarily give you an answer, but of course you can," he replied teasingly, waving an inviting hand at some nearby seats.

Kuchiki nodded, gingerly taking place before giving him a hesitant look.

He smiled, letting a smidgen of his annoyance with her late visit seep through. "Ask away, Kuchiki-san."

A glimmer of determination entered her eyes. There was also a cunning edge to it, but Kisuke decided not to comment and simply see what she was planning. He was sure he could handle whatever the little Kuchiki could come up with.

"I was wondering," she said. "You mentioned that Ichigo's friends awakened their abilities because of Ichigo, but if that's what happened, why did no other Humans awaken spiritual abilities? Surely Ichigo has been close enough to others while he fought to influence them?" She ducked her head, abashed. "I wanted to ask Ichigo, but it seemed insensitive."

Kisuke nodded, amused with her acting. Though it wasn't all an act. She did speak the truth, mostly. It was quite thoughtful of the little Kuchiki to be so mindful of Kurosaki's feelings, though Kisuke didn't think Kurosaki-kun would have minded telling her.

Her question was even a good one. Kisuke had been curious whether she would be observant and clever enough to ask it. Kurosaki and his friends surely had. It was nice to see that the younger Shinigami had picked up on the oddity as well. The kid would need friends with their heads screwed on straight.

Especially if said friend was going to return to Soul Society and the eye of one of the oldest and shrewdest Captains Seireitei had to offer. Ukitake was a gentle soul, most of the time, but Kisuke rather doubted he would approve of Kuchiki's new friends. Especially Kurosaki-kun.

"Very astute of you," Kisuke complimented her. He held up two fingers. "The reason is twofold. First, there are not that many Humans who have any potential to awaken in the first place. So even if Ichigo goes all out right in front of them, they will not gain abilities from it simply because they have no abilities to gain. Second, after Sado-san and Arisawa-san accidentally awakened their abilities because of him, I told Ichigo to be careful to not attack Hollows when there are Humans in the vicinity if he could avoid it. He has tried to do that since then. Out of the handful of Humans that were near him during a fight after that, only Inoue-san suffered consequences for it."

Kuchiki nodded thoughtfully. "I see. It is rather fortunate that they could become friends then. They're even the same age."

Kisuke chuckled. "Yes, that was very interesting. Those were quite improbable odds, I can assure you. I have been speculating since then whether abilities are easier to awaken when you are of a certain age group. I know youth can slow it down since abilities are underdeveloped within children, but it is possible that aging causes the flexibility of the soul to be lost. Or maybe the flexibility of the body to adapt to a rise in spiritual energy. It is true that bodies can act as inhibitors – hence the fact that a Shinigami is weaker in a gigai – but until then, I had not sincerely considered the possibility that old age might play a significant role as well. Truly intriguing."

Kisuke had to suppress a laugh at the emotion he could see in the girl's eyes when he explained his theory. Not that fond of scientific speculation, was she?

"I suppose so…," Kuchiki agreed, graciously pretending to be interested in the theory, even though she clearly was not. At least she had some manners. Though she did quickly change topics. Humph. No appreciation.

"Since you clearly have kept a close eye on the people of Karakura, would you also happen to know what became of Ichigo's parents? Ichigo told me they died and about what they used to be, but he didn't say what happened to their souls, and I didn't want to ask such a painful question of him."

Ah yes. That mess. Oh dear. She just had to ask that, didn't she?

"But you're willing to ask that question of me?" Kisuke said lightly, hiding his face behind his fan with fake coyness. He was truly not in the mood for this.

Would he tell the truth? He had told Ichigo and his sisters pieces of it, but they were entitled to it. Kuchiki-chan had no business knowing about that.

Then again, if Kuchiki-chan brought up the wrong details somewhere during an unlucky future conversation, both Kuchiki and Kurosaki would be quite upset with him.

Kisuke heaved a mental sigh. So, the truth then. As little as he could get away with.

"It is a simple yet sad story," he told her. "You know about the car accident? And the fact that Kurosaki's parents weren't ordinary humans?"

Kuchiki nodded cautiously. Heh. So she knew enough to know that she wouldn't like it.

"Well, what Kurosaki-kun probably didn't tell you is that it was no normal accident. There was a Hollow involved. You see, a couple of years before Kurosaki-kun was born, his parents were in a bit of a… bind so to say. Through some events I will not delve further into tonight, they had suffered injuries that had shattered their abilities. And yes, before you ask, even his father. I suppose that your Clan has provided you with knowledge on which injuries you must absolutely avoid?"

Kuchiki nodded, pale this time, clearly remembering what Ishida had almost done to her. Kisuke ruefully sympathised. The hakusui wasn't the easiest target to reach, and had to be hit very precisely if one wanted to seal a Shinigami's power, with just the right amount of reiatsu to sear the wound far enough to destroy any hope of recovery, but not so far that the location of the injury would kill them. But the mere fact that it was possible was enough to make any Shinigami who possessed any sense of self-preservation cringe.

"Well, the injury his parents suffered wasn't as decisive as it could have been, and with my help they had been slowly recovering for years. Unfortunately, that made them a tempting target for Hollows. Not enough reiryoku to defend themselves, but enough to be interesting prey. And, well… I hate to admit it, but the bow cannot always stand bent, nor can anyone stay sane without some form of entertainment. There were moments that I was… less attentive than I should have been."

He sighed, sad and regretful. "I suppose you can guess what happened after that. A Hollow attacked them when they were in the car, and made them crash. They were dead quite quickly, and in their soul forms they were roughly on par with fourth year Academy students, so they had just enough strength to hold it off long enough for me to arrive. At least, long enough not to get eaten. At that point their mother was mortally injured – Quincy souls need time to adapt to their lack of body, and she hadn't had that, so she had been incapacitated very quickly – and their father was dying as well. All I could do was ensure that they passed on safely."

Though he had no idea where their souls would pass on to. Masaki was probably headed for Soul Society, but Isshin? Who knew? Kisuke hoped to find out some day. It would be so interesting.

Across from him, Kuchiki looked slightly upset. Sad for her friends' loss, obviously, but there was something else as well.

Hmm. Well, he would give her a moment to collect herself then. Instead he busied himself with getting them both a cup of tea. He would have liked sake, but Yoruichi had polished off every bottle he had. Sometimes he wondered if his friend shouldn't have been a fish, what with how much she drank given the chance.

Not entirely to his surprise, Kuchiki recovered fairly swiftly, instead taking the time he had given her to contemplate something.

When she met his eyes again, hers were sharp and tinged with anger.

Ah. So she had finally worked up the courage to ask the real question. Judging from the barely-veiled anger in her eyes, it must be quite a whopper.

"You know, Urahara-san," she said almost conversationally, "I find it curious how active you are in the area. You even have a history of directly involving yourself in the lives of spiritually powerful Humans." Her eyes narrowed. "Which begs the question, why in the Worlds did you allow Ichigo to turn into a Hollow?"

Kisuke sighed into his cup, letting the soft fragrance soothe the edge off his disgruntlement. Yes. He had been expecting that question at one point or another. But it wasn't pleasant, no matter how much the barely-veiled accusation was warranted.

He heaved a mental sigh. Nothing to do but deal with it. At least she had first checked the facts before she brought it up. Seemed that her meetings Kurosaki-kun had taught her to be more careful with her assumptions. A good lesson, which every Shinigami should learn.

Aah, but how to explain?

Kisuke still remembered the utter chaos of that first, frantic night. He and Tessai had sensed Kurosaki-kun's death – pretty hard not to, given the explosion of reiatsu that had followed Kurosaki's soul's release from his body – and had planned to offer him the chance to become a Shinigami if his soul did not pass on on its own, to honour their friendship with Isshin. They had liked the man enough to wish to spare his kid the hardships of Rukongai and Aizen's plots in Seireitei.

Once it had become clear that the kid had become a Plus – unsurprising, given the fact that his sisters still lived; he probably would have ended up as a Tsukirei if he had been left on his own – they had started to prepare the things they needed to turn a soul into a Shinigami so they wouldn't have to send Kurosaki-kun on an inconvenient trip to Soul Society.

Kisuke had thrown a barrier around the area Kurosaki-kun had been in to prevent Hollows from finding the kid, and his young assistants had been tasked with monitoring the area near Kurosaki-kun for Hollows in case some managed to find him anyway. Kurosaki-kun had been too tempting a target not to attract some. However, Kisuke hadn't counted on a Hollow arriving through a garganta and running into Kurosaki-kun by pure chance within less than a minute.

Looking back, that had been a terrible mistake.

Tessai and Kisuke being at work in the underground training area instead of his lab where the surveillance gear was installed hadn't helped. It had taken Ururu crucial seconds to reach them once she had noticed what was going on. Jinta had been punished for distracting her.

Frantic, Kisuke and Tessai had tried to reach the young Kurosaki before he was eaten, but before they were even halfway to his location, his soul was already gone, and only a Hollow remained that bore a reiatsu signature that was very, very close to Kurosaki's.

When they had realized what the young man had become they had rushed towards his home, knowing from experience and the direction the reiatsu signature was moving in that that would be his next stop. Their worry had amplified when they had realized the oldest Kurosaki had already been close to reaching it.

Imagine their surprise when they had arrived at the scene fully expecting to face carnage, but instead had only found two sobbing little girls clinging to a ferocious looking Hollow that held them as if they were the most precious things in the world.

It had been an utterly odd thing to bear witness to. As if the world had suddenly turned sideways.

They hadn't trusted it, but Kisuke's burning curiosity had kept them from taking the Hollow down straight away. Kisuke didn't regret that decision one bit. Long weeks of supervision by both the staff of the shop and, later on, the Visored when they had become suspicious about the new Hollow that had taken permanent residence in the area, had brought evidence of the impossible.

Kurosaki Ichigo had retained his Human mind. He was sane.

It had been mindboggling. And terribly exciting, but his old friend Hirako had hit him over the head when he had called it that. The oldest Visored had apparently been under the faulty impression that Kisuke had been taking the situation too lightly. Kisuke hadn't been, but there had been no arguing with Hirako when he got like that. People could be so very single-minded in their opinions. Unlike Kisuke, who had never had problems looking at a situation from multiple perspectives. Hirako was certainly not the worst, but that didn't change that he disapproved of Hollows, humanoid or other. Violently so.

Then again, Hirako's opinion was without a doubt biased. Kisuke couldn't blame him. After all, an Inner Hollow was a trial at the best of times, and had been difficult to control even for powerful, experienced Shinigami. What chance stood a Human child in the face of such an overwhelming part of himself?

As it turned out, a surprisingly good one. At least when they were as inhumanly stubborn and determined as Kurosaki Ichigo.

Yes. He truly could not say he regretted letting Kurosaki-kun live. His presence had made Kisuke's life so interesting.

But Kuchiki Rukia required an answer. And from the look of her, if he remained silent any longer, she would either throw her cup of tea at him, or attempt to stab him. Not that she would succeed in landing a hit on him, but Kisuke rather preferred not to have his house dirtied or damaged in the scuffle.

He waved a nonchalant hand, allowing her to catch a glimpse of his appropriately contrite expression.

"A fair question," he acknowledged. "Though 'allow' isn't the right word. After his parents' deaths he wasn't about to leave his sisters to fend for themselves, dead or not. So I planned to offer him the chance to become a Shinigami, without putting him through the hassle that is a soul's journey to Soul Society and the Shin'ou Academy. Which isn't an easy thing, I can assure you. So there was some time between his death and me being able to offer him that opportunity. I had put a kidou ward up that should have kept Hollows from finding him while I worked on it, but obviously that turned out not to be enough."

Kisuke spread his hands. "To put it simply, I had assumed I would have the time to set things up before I would have to confront the distraught boy, and therefore arrived too late to save Kurosaki-kun from becoming a Hollow."

"Are you saying that you failed because you were too busy to do your job right?" The little Kuchiki sounded outraged by that. "Your so-called 'ward' didn't even work!"

Well, he couldn't let that stand. Letting a hint of lethal pique slip into his countenance, Kisuke regarded her with piercing cold eyes. "Unfortunately, Kuchiki-san, I am as vulnerable to the unexpected twists of fate as any other. However I might wish differently, I am not infallible, and can misjudge a situation. I had thrown a ward over the town to make reiatsu signatures almost impossible to trace without the right equipment to confuse Hollows and make them incapable of locating souls. I had not expected Kurosaki-kun to physically walk into one."

Kuchiki shrunk back a little from the rebuke, but her anger remained on her face. When she tried to continue to argue, Kisuke gave her a chilling mockery of a smile, cheery yet humourless, and as quietly hostile as a bared blade.

That was warning enough. Good. He was fed up with the topic. Past mistakes always left a bitter flavour in his mouth.

Kuchiki didn't say anything more, only giving him a stiff 'good night' before retreating to her room. She hadn't even sipped her tea. How rude.

But that was alright. Kisuke knew he had given her enough to think about.

And he himself had plenty to think about as well. If he hadn't lost his touch for predicting things, then everything would get hectic soon.

Right. A good moment to get a good night's rest, then.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

If he had looked outside right now he would have seen nothing that would have forewarned the shock he had just received.

Not that the world ever gave advance notice like that. And he knew that, suspected or not, the shock still would have been unpleasant to weather.

The white haired Captain looked between the rapport and the Twelfth Division member who had delivered it. It was damning. "You are sure this is accurate?" he asked without much hope.

"Yes, sir. Kurotsuchi-taichou himself checked it," Akon confirmed as he stood dispassionately before The Thirteenth Division Captain's desk, looking unmoved by the news he had just delivered. "My Captain asked me to tell you that he is willing to solve this issue for you, if you wish."

Juushirou carefully kept a grimace of distaste from forming on his face and shook his head. "No, that will not be necessary. Tell him that I appreciate the offer, but that I will handle it."

Akon nodded and left with a respectful bow.

Juushirou barely noticed. All he could focus on was the report and its incriminating evidence, and the name stamped at the top of it.

His eyes traced the red line of the graph that displayed the level of Hollow reiatsu thorough her mission. It rose just a little above normal baseline levels a couple of days before the uncomfortably large spike that indicated the reported Adjuchas battle, and resided on that level disturbingly often over the duration of her mission after that.

So often that it made them seriously consider the possibility that she was regularly in the company of a Hollow with weak reiatsu. According to Akon that was the only logical explanation, since they had monitored the baseline levels of Karakura closely after the Adjuchas had visited.

Juushirou had been concerned when he had received the report about that battle, but apparently, he hadn't been concerned enough.

Kuchiki Rukia. What in the Worlds happened to you?

One thing was certain. Kuchiki Byakuya was not going to be pleased when Juushirou informed him about the contents of this report on his sister.

Tsukirei = a possessive spirit. AKA, a spirit that is bound to a person because it regrets leaving that person behind. Example: Orihime's brother.

Thoughts?