A Black Heart

Thanks for the support everyone. I know that when you read this story, humour is the last thing you expect, but I think with regard to some of these scenes; it's completely expected from some of the characters. Rest assured, this is still an exploration of the deep dark recesses of my mind, but there can be snippets of light here and there.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.

"Normal speech"

'Inner speech/thoughts'

"Kido/Zanpakuto Attacks/Quincy Techniques"

"Zanpakuto speech/Inner Power"

"Hollow speech"

XXX

Chapter 16:

'It's so peaceful out here…Abuelo would have loved it,' Chad thought with a sigh, staring up into the night sky of the Rukongai. After their run-in with the man Isshin Shiba, they were finally introduced to Kukaku Shiba, the premier fireworks master in all 320 districts of the Rukongai. They'd been so surprised that the 'he' they expected was in fact a 'she', that they almost missed her profession. After being escorted through the underground home to a door that housed a huge chimney, it was explained that she would get them into the Seireitei by firing them through her 'Flower Crane Cannon'. Even as Uryu tried to protest against the plan, they were bundled up by the twin guardsmen and hauled away to learn how to form the cannonball they would need to make to get into the Seireitei.

Now hours later after mastering the basics to a reasonable degree, they were whiling the hours away before they were fired and their mission began in earnest. One thing that was bothering Chad though, was how they planned to let Ichigo know that he needed to get a move on, but neither Kukaku or Yoruichi seemed worried, so he would trust them to sort it out. Hearing a disturbance in the distance, he scanned the horizon for it. Spotting a cloud of dust charging towards him, he was surprised to see a herd of giant boars with riders stampeding towards the Shiba home. Hearing the padding of footsteps behind him, he glanced over his shoulder and watched as Yoruichi, Isshin and Kukaku joined him. As the large group finally came to a halt outside the front door though, the lead rider was thrown off his steed, crashing face first into the wall of the house.

"Welcome back Ganju…you're late," Kukaku hissed, a frown on the one-armed firework's master's face.

"Ah nee-chan I can explain…" the now introduced Ganju tried to say, crawling forwards on his knees towards her, only for her to stomp his face into the ground and grind it under her heel.

"I gave you a very simple instruction Ganju," she growled as she glared at him. "Have our cousins back by 9PM and now it's 9:30. So who do we have to blame for this? Huh?!" Hearing him mutter something garbled, she pushed off him and strode towards where his friends were huddling in fear. "Well girls…what time did he pick you up?" she asked, puzzling Chad as to who she was speaking to.

"Umm…" a timid voice answered, causing the guys to quickly split to the sides, revealing two young girls that looked approximately ten years old if Chad had to guess. Both were dressed in light yukatas, while one had light brown hair that framed her face and was looking at her sister with a demure expression. The other though had black hair like Isshin and was sporting a slightly gleeful smirk.

"He picked us up at ten past nine Kukaku-nee," she said with a smirk, staring back at Ganju as he silently begged her behind Kukaku's back.

"Is that so?" Kukaku replied, gritting her teeth in anger as she turned to face her brother.

"I can explain nee-chan!" he pleaded, backpedalling in fear as she advanced on him. "It was the…" he tried to say, only to get his face pounded into the ground again.

"You idiot!" she screamed as she continued to pummel him into oblivion, causing him to utter several high-pitched shrieks. "I've told you time and time again to always be prompt when our cousins are involved, but did you listen? NO!"

"What's happening? We heard a scream," Orihime spoke as she and Uryu joined Chad, only to be waved silent by the gentle giant.

"Ah is Ganju-kun back then?" a feminine voice said, sneaking up on the teens and causing them to jump in fright. Staring over their shoulders at the squabble between brother and sister was a middle-aged woman with long brown hair and dare they say it…the most heart-warming smile any of them ever had the chance to see. "Ah Kukaku-chan, you can't kill your brother before dinner!" she called out, causing the pummelling to stop.

"Ah Masaki-chan is always so thoughtful!" Isshin cried out, comically flying towards the woman, only to crumble to the floor as she had pulled a metal ladle out of nowhere and chopped him over the head.

"That's quite enough Isshin," she commented sternly, her rigid demeanour melting away as the young girls enveloped her in a hug. "Welcome home Karin, Yuzu," she said with a smile, as she hugged the brown haired girl and the black haired girl respectively, returning the affection shown. "How was Yosuke-kun?"

"Great kaa-chan," Yuzu gushed. "He said to say thank you for the treats too!"

"The damn slob couldn't get them into his mouth fast enough," Karin said with a smirk, wincing as she was prodded lightly in her stomach by Masaki.

"Considering how quickly you eat them too, it's not surprising!" she laughed lightly, even as Karin blushed in embarrassment. "Now come on, dinner's ready." As the three of them began to walk back towards the house, the girls finally noticed the teens.

"Who're they?" Karin asked.

"They're friends of a friend," Masaki answered, before looking up at them. "Will you be joining us? There's more than enough to go around." With a few shakes and nods everyone but Yoruichi and Isshin headed into the house for dinner.

"Later Yoruichi," Isshin spoke, cutting the cat off before she could speak, earning him a glare in return.

XXX

Hours later, when the others had finally retired for the evening and were getting what sleep they could before they were awoken before dawn, Isshin, Yoruichi and Kukaku sat in Kukaku's private chambers, the room illuminated by a single candle between the three of them.

"So you found both your wife and daughters…how fortunate for you Isshin," Yoruichi spoke, her tone even despite her agitation at the situation.

"Physically maybe Yoruichi, but they don't have their memories of their human lives," he replied with a weary sigh, running a hand over his tired face.

"What do you mean? Why are they here with you then?"

"The girls were with me when I died Yoruichi and I was able to convince the soul reaper directing the new arrivals that they were my daughters and needed to stay with me. They told me themselves, that while they don't remember me being there father, they feel as if I am."

"And Masaki? She passed away a few days before you after all."

"That was a pure luck," Isshin admitted with a smile on his face. "She was being accosted in the Rukongai and I just happened to be passing by. It took me a few weeks and bringing up the girls to even get her to see this place. Then a month later she finally agreed to move in. Our relationship might not be as strong as when we were alive, but at least she and the girls have bonded again."

"I see…my apologies for my attitude earlier then. Seeing you all together, it just made me think that Ichigo's really gotten the short stick in all this."

"Who's Ichigo?" Kukaku spoke, earning another sigh from Isshin.

"He's your sole surviving cousin in the Living World. Where is he by the way? I would have thought you'd have brought him here since he needs to get into the Seireitei too."

"Kisuke changed the plan at the last moment," she mentioned, seeing Isshin furrow his brow. "Don't worry, he doesn't know you were staying here otherwise he might've just left the plan as is. Judging by the situation though, it's a good thing he didn't come. This is something he just doesn't need to deal with right now."

"That still doesn't explain how he's going to get into the Seireitei though," Kukaku muttered, some part of her saddened that she hadn't had a chance to meet him.

"He's going to head in first. Kisuke assured me that he has the speed to outrun the wall before it actually lands. By that time, most of the soul reaper's attention should be focussed solely on us as we descend from the sky. They'll think it was our approach that triggered the wall and won't bother to look closer at their borders for the cause."

"You want him to outrun the wall?! That's a hard task to ask even a seasoned soul reaper Yoruichi! Only someone with some skill in shunpo could possibly make it in time," Isshin hissed at her. Seeing her look away from him, he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Yoruichi?"

"Kisuke put Ichigo through the Onmitsukido initiation. You know as well as I do that they have the skill outrun the wall and to slip in undetected."

"But…he…my son's not a killer!" Isshin shouted, only to be hushed by both women. "Even if our deaths hardened him, Ichigo's would never be able to endure everything that the Onmitsukido entails. It would more than likely break him!"

"He seemed to be well enough in my brief time with him," she replied. "Maybe you're just not taking into account just how much growing up your son had to do after being left an orphan," she muttered, causing Isshin's anger to visibly deflate, leaving him looking downtrodden.

"Question," Kukaku finally spoke, drawing the pair's attention away from one another. "How are you going to let this kid know that it's time for him to move? If he's as fast as you think he is, that still won't be fast enough to outrun the cannonball and he'll be left outside the Seireitei."

"Ah yes. I was hoping that you'd be able to help me with that Kukaku," she said with a gleeful smirk, causing a similar one to appear on the fireworks master's face.

XXX

One hour before dawn.

Snoozing lightly on his side, his back to a small fire he'd made, Ichigo slept fitfully, his zanpakuto held lightly in his left hand. He was soon bolted out of his slumber by a deafening boom in the sky, causing him to leap to his feet, blade drawn and held in front of him, even as his eyes blearily searched for a threat. Hearing another boom, he looked up and found the remnants of a large firework slowly falling to the ground. 'Who'd be dumb enough to set off fireworks at this time of the morning?' he groused, before his eyes snapped open in alarm.

XXX

"Stay out of trouble and wait for our signal," Yoruichi told him, moments before she and the others disappeared.

XXX

'They wouldn't have used such a large thing as the signal would they? I mean they just damn near woke up everyone in the district, not to mention the Seireitei!' he thought with a scowl. 'Unless…unless that was their plan all along. Keep everyone looking up at the sky while I slip in, in the dead of night. How cliché…'

Not wasting another moment, he sprinted off in the direction of the Seireitei, barely paying attention as a third boom finally echoed through the air. As the wall started to come down, Ichigo cursed and increased his pace, gritting his teeth as the gap between the wall and the ground grew ever smaller. 'I won't make it at this rate. Tch, I didn't want to reveal this if I couldn't help it, but I guess I have no choice now.' Releasing his reiatsu out a notch, he forced it to his feet, feeling as it propelled him forwards at a blistering rate. As he drew within inches of the boundary line, he slid past on his knees, the wall just passing a hairsbreadth over his nose, before the ground groaned as its immense weight crushed down on it. 'Well that was too close for comfort,' he mumbled, climbing to his feet and moving unseen through the dust cloud. 'Now where do I…?' he tried to say; only to cut himself off as an ear-piercing shriek assaulted him.

Looking up, he was surprised to see a large sphere driving into the dome over the Seireitei, the invisible wall protesting against the contact. Just as it looked like the sphere would be repelled though, it forced its way through, rocketing through the air to crash somewhere on the other side of the city. 'So that's how they got in…a fool's plan if you ask me. Well at least with the impact being so far away, it will force the soul reapers to concentrate their efforts in that direction, while I can sneak around more easily. First things first though, I need to find out where they're keeping Rukia in the first place.'

XXX

"We're alive!" Orihime cheered, throwing her arms up as they stopped channelling their energy into the Spirit Core and released themselves from its confines.

"Idiot shut up," Yoruichi hissed, clasping a paw over the girl's mouth as she mumbled behind it. "We're deep within enemy territory now. You need to remember not to draw attention to yourself!"

Getting a nod in affirmative, she leapt down from the girl's shoulder and stared at the rest of her charges. Uryu and Chad seemed no worse for wear, but Ganju, their newest addition at Kukaku's insistence, was panting heavily, unsurprising as he had to control the sphere's trajectory and speed after they were fired from the cannon. Looking around to get her bearings quickly, she spotted Sokyoku Hill in the distance and nodded to herself. This was just about as good a landing as they would have gotten anyways.

"Come on I know a place we can hide out near here, follow me!" she spoke, leading the teens away before their position was swarmed by approaching soul reapers.

XXX

"And so the games begin, isn't that right Captain Aizen," Gin chuckled, staring at screen showing both group's entrances.

"Indeed Gin and who would've thought that a few kids would catch the Gotei 13 sleeping on the job," Aizen murmured, zooming in on Ichigo as he made his way across the rooftops and bypassing the walkways entirely. "It seems as if Kisuke has chosen to go with a more stealthy approach than I expected, but he's a fool if he thinks that Ichigo will be able to slip through here undetected."

"Oh? You have something planned for him Captain?"

"Perhaps, but I want to see what he does first before I make my decision."

XXX

Okay they're finally in. I promise the action will start to pickup with the next chapter and don't expect the canon battles to take place. I've wanted to have some fun here and this is just the beginning.