A/N: Ten people to thank for reviews this time: Dark Inu Fan, Shadewolf7, bleach-otaku, Thunder Claw03, Rukia's Reflection, novicestar, Assault Godzilla, Bleached-Whale, JaegerjaquezLover101, and hollownature. And thank you to everyone who put this or its author on their lists. Did I respond to everyone's reviews last time? If not, I apologize. July was a busy month for me and half the time I didn't know if I was coming or going. Anyway, here's another chapter, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Bleach characters, manga, anime, movies, etc. They belong by copyright laws to Tite Kubo et al.

Every Teen's Worst Nightmare

Time to Meet the Family, Part Four

Gazing at her father studying Urahara's invention, Tatsuki was infinitely glad that her doll was nothing like Ichigo's and Orihime's. It may pump out reiatsu like Kei and Raiden but neither of her parents were spiritually aware so there was no freaking out about an electronic doll doing something it shouldn't.

"This is certainly nothing like what I've seen in stores. You say a friend of Kurosaki-san's invented it?" The dark haired man looked at the two teens sitting across from him and smiled congenially. He was often away on business so had never met the large giant his daughter had as a partner. Although the boy was big, there was something about the boy that told him he wouldn't hurt his little girl. Tatsuki might be able to protect herself normally but she wasn't infallible.

"Yes, Dad. I guess they go way back. The dolls are pretty sophisticated but they're not without their glitches." The martial artist watched as Hana crawled out of her father's lap and towards Chad.

"Well, prototypes tend to have those. Still, I'm glad that they're able to give you real world experience."

"They do at that, dear," her mother giggled as she came in to announce dinner. "Go put the little dear down for the night, Sado-kun."

"Aa," he answered quietly and went to do as instructed. When he was out of ear shot and they were going to the dining room, her father raised a brow.

"So, are you and he going out? I don't have to warn him about hurting my little girl, do I?"

Blushing to the roots of her hair, she raised a fist and shook it at the elder Arisawa. "There's nothing like that between us! We're just friends. Besides, I doubt you could threaten him, Dad. There's not much that can scare Chad." Mentally she compared her much shorter father to the Hollows they'd gone against since teaming up and couldn't stop the laughter from spilling forth. "You're much shorter than he is anyway. I don't think you could intimidate him very well."

Chad returned in time to hear the last comment and merely raised an eyebrow before sitting down. "I have put her on 'babysitter' mode for the time being, although her internal clock has made her go to sleep. We shouldn't be interrupted. I wanted to thank you, Arisawa-san, for allowing me to stay for the duration of the project."

"We're happy to have you, Sado-kun. Tell me about your family." Tatsuki winced at her father's less-than-subtle way of asking for information.

"My parents died when I was young and I lived with my grandfather until he died when I was in junior high."

"I see, forgive me for prying."

Chad shrugged it off. "It was a long time ago." He took another bite of his chicken before complimenting his partner's mother's cooking.

Arisawa nodded at the boy, deciding that he was a good friend for his daughter. "So, Tatsuki-chan, are you ready for your relatives to meet your doll?"

"Excuse me?" she choked, too surprised to take issue with the diminutive on the end of her name.

"Didn't your mom tell you? Your aunt, uncle and two cousins are coming for a visit tomorrow."

"What?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? I'm so sorry, dear," her mother chuckled.

The dark haired girl stared at her mother incredulously. "Which aunt and uncle?" she asked cautiously.

"Mimiko and Haro," the older woman answered casually.

"Great," Tatsuki muttered. "That means Shiro and Kimiko are going to be here, doesn't it? That's lovely," she said sarcastically.

"Arisawa-san?" Chad questioned.

"My cousins are nosy, irritating pre-teens." The kind of nosy that would make ducking out to take care of Hollows hard. Not only that but if by some bizarre coincidence they were spiritually aware, explaining things without their parents finding out was going to be almost impossible. They'd certainly have to watch what they said around the two and make sure they weren't eavesdropped on.

"I see." The teen of Mexican descent looked at her with understanding. Perhaps they could borrow a memory modifier from Urahara for the duration of her relatives' visit.

Resigned to the inevitable, Tatsuki sighed. "So, when are the rug rats coming?"

Her mother thought a moment before smiling apologetically. "Tomorrow, dear."

The martial artist glared briefly before turning her attention back to her dinner. "Fine but if we have two less cousins by the end of their stay, it's not going to be my fault."

"Of course not, dear." Humming briefly under her breath, the Arisawa matriarch picked up the bowl of stew. "Seconds anyone?"

Neither of the males at the table dared to make a move.

Back in her room, Tatsuki passed while Chad studied. "This is going to be a disaster. If they find out, we'll have to erase their memories or something. Can that be done?"

"Aa," her partner answered quietly. "Urahara-san probably has a modifier that we can borrow. Kuchiki-san uses it all the time. As long as the doll doesn't develop strange powers, we should be fine."

"Good, that's good." Flopping back on her bed, she gazed over at her classmate. "What are you studying?"

"History. Kuchiki-taicho said there'd be a history test Monday."

"Where was I?" she cried, not having done any homework as of yet. Running to her bag, she pulled out her assignments and began flipping through her history text.

"Bathroom," Chad said honestly. Briefly he wondered if he should have been so blunt but when no rebuke came, he continued trying to memorize dates.

"You're smart, will you help me? History isn't one of my favorite subjects."

"Sure, it's not hard." The fact that Chad was ranked eleventh didn't faze him. Learning had always come easily to him. If he had more time, he'd probably be ranked even higher. That Inoue and Ishida were third and first only went to show how smart they were. With their fighting during the Winter War, it was a surprise that the only person's grades to have suffered were Ichigo's.

"Thanks. Maybe I can use studying as an excuse to stay away from my cousins."

"Mm," he murmured but didn't comment further. It was better just to help her. Tomorrow he'd visit Urahara for that memory gizmo. It had a name, he just couldn't think of it at the moment. Ah, well, it'd come to him at some point.

A tentative knock on her door had both teens looking up. Tatsuki's mother poked her head in and smiled at them. "I hope you two don't mind but Shiro will stay with Sado-kun and Kimiko will bunk in here with you. It'll only be for one night so you shouldn't have any problems."

"Yeah, whatever, Mom. So long as that brat stays out of my stuff and away from my Health Studies project, I don't care where she sleeps. Shiro too."

"I can always go back to my apartment if you need the room," Chad offered.

"No! If I have to suffer, so do you," Tatsuki proclaimed. "We're partners, remember?"

The large teen didn't point out that if he went home for the night with the doll, they wouldn't be in danger of being found out. "All right," he agreed instead and wondered if she'd try to beat him up when she realized the truth.

"Besides, the assignment for this thing was to introduce it to the family. Dad doesn't really count because he would have normally met it when I brought it home the first time if he'd been here. I'm pretty sure Kuchiki-taicho meant extended family, Ochi-sensei would have." At the mention of the Gotei captain, the dark haired girl hummed under her breath. "I wonder how that introduction went. Ichigo and Kuchiki-san were going to the Soul Society to introduce it to the people there, weren't they?"

"Soul Society?" she heard her mother question and jumped. Tatsuki had forgotten that her mother was standing in the doorway.

"Ah, never mind. Just the place where Kuchiki-taicho's normally stationed. You wouldn't have heard of it."

The mother glanced questionably at the daughter but didn't argue. "All right, dear. Don't stay up too late. You wouldn't want to be tired when your relatives come."

Tatsuki waited until the older woman left before sighing. "No, of course not."

Chad held his council as usual.

Tatsuki was in the middle of rocking a whimpering electronic baby when the doorbell rang the next morning. Too irritated to care about what it might look like to whoever was on the other side, she opened it only to find her aunt, uncle, and two cousins. The four family members quickly exchanged puzzled glances before Kimiko, the thirteen year old who never knew when to keep quiet, blurted out the question they were all silently asking.

"When did you have a baby?"

The older cousin looked at the younger and sighed. "Since never. It's a school project, dork. Just come in and settle down. You're staying in my room tonight and Shiro in the one across the hall with my partner. Just don't touch anything." Having given her orders to the two cousins, Tatsuki wandered away to change the doll. Maybe a "clean" diaper would make it stop crying.

Hana let out a cry of discontent as she went up the stairs and before she closed the door on her room, the martial artist heard her twelve year old male cousin say, "She says it's a school project, but it sounds real. If it's a doll, I wonder if I can take it apart."

That was the last thing she needed. For all she knew there was a tamper prevention seal on the doll that would make the vandal explode or something. Try explaining that to unknowing parents. Seeing Chad return from Urahara's out her bedroom window, Tatsuki took a deep breath and tried to relax. It was only one night.

Honestly, they could keep things from going out of control for that long couldn't they?