I do not own Bleach

Chapter 31 Soul Friends

Ichigo sat at his desk staring at the ground. He gave a small sigh. He had failed them all. Orihime was walking around in several casts, Chad was so hurt he wasn't even able to come to school, and Tatsuki had almost died. Then there was Hinata. He didn't remember even seeing her there, but he had heard her once it was over.

Tessai had been healing him in one of the rooms when a scream started ripping through the air. It had been a scream of pure terror and horror. What made it worse was that he had known it was Hinata. He had tried to jump up, but Tessai had pushed him down. He had tried to fight, but Tessai refused to let him up. He had watched Kisuke run past the room with worry etched into his face. Tessai had used some kido to make it so Ichigo couldn't hear what was happening anymore. It seemed like forever before he watched his father walk past the door cradling a sobbing Hinata in his arms. She had looked so small and young then.

This morning when he had gone in to wake her up he had found her face still streaked with tears, and she was curled up in a ball clutching the old man's hands like it was her life saver. He could tell she hadn't slept well that night. He made the decision not to wake her up. Even now the image was burned into his mind.

He raised his head to the sound of loud footsteps making their way down the hall along with voices. The closer they got, the more his eyes widened. The door was thrown open to reveal Renji, Toshiro, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. Ichigo flew out of his chair as he ran over to them demanding to know why they were here.

"It's an order," Renji said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ichigo stared blankly as he tried to wrap his mind around what they were saying. He turned when a voice called out to him from behind, calling him an idiot. Turning, he saw Rukia standing in the window. "Rukia?"

She gave a smirk. "Long time no see, Ichigo."

Before he could say anything more, she attacked him, kicking him in the face before pulling him out of his body and jumping out the window.

. . .

Toshiro rolled his eyes. After Rukia had carried off Ichigo the whole lot of them had started bickering. He looked around the room of students who were all staring at them. He tried to keep the twitch off his face as people where asking why there was an elementary school kid here. "Somebody switch places with me, please," he mumbled under his breath. As he looked around, he noticed that the only person in the room he knew was the Quincy boy who was glaring at them from across the room. He looked at the group behind him. "Where are the others?"

The bickering all stopped as they looked at him before looking around with puzzled looks of their own.

. . .

Isshin wrapped his arm around his daughter. She had stayed home from school today and he had decided to stay with her. She was looking a lot better after having finally been able to fall asleep close to six this morning. As it was, they sat in front of the television watching Sailor Moon. He gave a smile; he hadn't watched this in over four years, but Hinata seemed to love it. He had even pulled out the ice cream!

. . .

Toshiro gave a sigh. "Well let's split up and go looking for them." Thankfully, there wasn't too much excitement before they finally found the girl Orihime.

She was coming out of the bathroom followed by another girl when she saw them. She jumped back, hitting her head against the wall as she did so. She swayed before Toshiro grabbed her arm, stabilizing her. "Careful."

When her head finally cleared, she looked down to see him holding her arm, and she jumped back again hitting her head once more. Toshiro sighed as he pulled her away from the wall. "What are you doing here!?" She asked when her head had stopped spinning.

Matsumoto ran forward, giving her a hug. "It's so good to see you! We are here to help protect you guys for a while!"

Orihime tried to give a bow while still in Matsumoto's arms. "Thank you!"

Toshiro cleared his throat causing both women to look down at him. "Where is everyone else?"

"Chad is still at Urahara's healing, Ichigo and Uryu are in the classroom, and Ichigo said Hinata stayed home with his Dad today."

Toshiro nodded his head. "We'll wait until Ichigo gets back."

. . .

Isshin backed out of Hinata's room. She had fallen asleep again about an hour ago. When he had been sure that she was truly asleep, he had carried her upstairs. He looked at the clock; Yuzu and Karin should be getting home soon, and he never knew when Ichigo would be home. He went to his desk and began the work he had been putting off.

When the girls got home, he ran out and gave Yuzu a hug and got a foot to the face when he tried to give Karin one. Then he cried to the poster of Masaki about how their baby girl was taking after her rebellious brother.

"Shut up old man!" Karina called out as she walked up the stairs to drop off her bag.

What surprised him though was when he felt Ichigo coming down the road, but he wasn't alone, he was with a Shinigami! Didn't his son know better than to bring Shinigami around his hollow sister? So when Ichigo opened the door and called out, Isshin was waiting for him, jumping down on him from above. During the ensuing fight, Isshin gave a nod of approval. Ichigo truly was becoming strong. When he finally had to jump back for air he saw the Shinigami for the first time. She was a short, petite girl with shoulder length black hair dressed as a student. He allowed tears to prick his eyes before he ran to the picture of Masaki! "My dear Ichigo has brought home another girl!" He felt Ichigo kick him in the back of the head.

"Shut up old man! This is Rukia. She's in the same boat as Hinata and can't go home for a while and wanted to know if she could stay here?"

Isshin stood up and looked her over again. "I'll have to talk to Hinata about it first; she would have to share a room with her."

Ichigo nodded as if he had expected that. Rukia's eyes got big and a large smile started to spread across her face. "You mean I would get to share a room with Hinata!?"

Isshin fought to not let his eyes narrow towards the girl. "Yes. She is asleep right now though, so you will have to wait."

"That's fine, we will wait upstairs." Ichigo grabbed Rukia and started hauling her up the stairs.

As soon as he heard the door shut, Isshin ran to the phone and called Kisuke.

. . .

"Stop laughing at me!" Isshin yelled over the phone, but Kisuke couldn't help himself. Isshin had become overprotective ever since Hinata had moved in with him, and now his concerns brought tears of mirth to Kisuke's eyes.

"She'll be fine!" Kisuke managed to gasp. "Rukia's been going to school with her for months!"

"But what if they find out that she's a hollow?"

Kisuke grinned broadly. "Rukia already knows about Ichigo's hollow. They'll just assume that Hinata is the same: a Shinigami with hollow powers."

There was silence at the other end of the line. "Shinigami?"

"She's your daughter, isn't she? From what I've understood over the past several years, she became an arrancar because she has no physical human form. That's why I gave her the gigai. Her spirit pressure is a mixture of hollow, Shinigami, and Quincy. I don't think any of the Shinigami at your house right now suspects a thing about her hollow nature."

"Shinigami? As in multiple? At my house?"

Kisuke rolled his eyes. "You're as dense as Ichigo, Isshin. They're all upstairs with him right now."

"I've got to go!"

Kisuke let the phone drop as he began to shake with laughter once more. Isshin may be dense, but he was a good father at least. Despite his laughter, he knew he would feel the same way if he were in Isshin's place. Even now, the thought of anyone else finding out about Hinata's true nature, as a hollow frightened him.

. . .

Ichigo looked up as Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku, and Renji all dropped from his ceiling. Yelling, he jabbed a finger at Renji and hollered, "How the hell did you guys get in her?! Wait! No! First I want you guys to fix the light!"

Rangiku began to joke around about how Ikkaku's head would make a great spare lightbulb when Ichigo saw Kuon sneaking towards Rangiku. He went to grab the stuffed lion just as he sprung from the ground, but Rangiku knocked him out of the air without even turning around. Ichigo glared at the stuffed lion while Ikkaku asked, "Is that custom around here?"

"No," Ichigo sighed. "That's just the way he is. He only behaves himself around Hinata."

At that, every single one of them perked up. "Hinata?" Rangiku squealed.

"Where is she?" Yumichika demanded. "I need to see another beautiful face."

"Who's Hinata?"

Everyone turned to stare at Renji as he reclined back on Ichigo's bed.

"She's asleep anyways –" Ichigo started to say, but was cut off as the others turned back to him demanding to see her. "She's asleep!"

"I bet she's adorable when she's sleeping," Yumichika sighed.

"I give up," Ichigo muttered. "Who can sleep through the racket you're all making anyways?"

He led them over to Hinata's door. Renji peaked over his shoulder curiously as Ichigo slowly twisted the knob. Before he opened the door all the way, he turned and hissed, "Don't you dare wake her up. She had a rough night."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Rangiku trilled, pushing at Ichigo in an attempt to peer into the bedroom.

Ichigo felt like he'd just been trampled as they all shoved past him to surround Hinata's bed. Even Rukia had managed to slip under his extended arm, a gleam in her eyes as she held a set of bunny ears behind her back. Ichigo leaned in the doorway feeling sorry for Hinata when somebody else shoved him out of the way.

"Leave my baby alone!" Isshin roared, barging into the room.

Ichigo groaned as all the Shinigami turned to face his father and Hinata stirred. Unfortunately, Ikkaku was leaning over Hinata when she stretched her arm. Her fist caught Ikkaku in the face, sending him flying back towards the window.

"Really, Ikkaku," Toshiro sighed, catching the man before he could crash through the window as he himself climbed into the room, "must you destroy everything when you visit places?"

"It wasn't my fault!" Ikkaku hollered, struggling against Toshiro's grip as he tried to get to Hinata. "She punched me!"

"She was only stretching," Rangiku said, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling Hinata into a tight hug.

Ichigo tried to squeeze into the room, but it was impossible. Isshin had snatched Hinata out of Rangiku's grasp while glaring at all the Shinigami. The others were all crowded around her bed still. Ikkaku was flailing his wooden sword in the corner while Toshiro held him off and the noise was giving Ichigo a headache.

"Daddy, it's okay," Hinata whispered, yawning heavily as she rubbed sleep from her eyes. "They're all my friends."

Isshin didn't look convinced, but let Hinata go so she could sit up right on the bed.

As soon as Hinata spoke, Rangiku's attention was drawn to Isshin. "Captain!" she called, lunging for Isshin.

Ichigo stumbled out of the way as his father fled the room with Rangiku hot on his heels. At the mention of Captain, Toshiro had also looked up in time to see Rangiku speeding out of the room. He too sped past Ichigo yelling for Rangiku to contain herself. Ichigo rubbed at his forehead, his head now pounding.

"So you're Hinata," Renji was saying, looming over the poor girl.

Hinata smiled up at him. "Hi red pineapple! You're nicer than I thought."

Ichigo shook his head at the surprised look on Renji's face. It was going to be a long day.

. . .

Uryu pushed his glasses up as he took a deep steadying breath. He raised his fist, ready to knock when the door to the Kurosaki residence swung open with a tremendous force. Ichigo's dad came hurtling past him; Uryu managed to step out of his way just in time. Isshin turned, skidding to a halt as he took in Uryu's appearance.

"You!" Isshin growled while pointing an accusing finger at him.

Uryu opened his mouth to answer when a familiar sing song voice distracted him.

"Oh Captain!" Rangiku sang, springing from the doorway, eyes on Mr. Kurosaki.

A look of fright crossed Isshin's face as he turned to flee again, yelling over his shoulder, "I'll deal with you later, Ishida!"

Rangiku skipped happily past Uryu, greeting him simply, "Nice to see you, Uryu," before vanishing into the distance.

Soon after she sped past, her Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya, came running out the door as well. He turned to Uryu, who now stood frozen beside the doorway. "Quincy boy," he acknowledged, scanning for his lieutenant.

"She went that way," Uryu sighed, pointing off in the distance.

The short, white haired captain gave a nod and sped off after the others.

Uryu turned and peered into the open doorway warily. He had just wanted to bring Hinata her homework and check to see if she was okay. Cautiously, he entered the Kurosaki residence, pulling his school bag from his shoulder.

"If you're looking for Ichigo, he's upstairs with his friends," a soft voice said behind Uryu, causing him to jump once more in alarm. He turned to find Ichigo's younger sister smiling up at him and pointing at the stairway.

"Ah . . ." Uryu said awkwardly, pushing up his glasses. "I came to see Hinata actually. I have her homework."

The girl smiled. "They're in her room right now. They're kinda noisy though."

"Thank you," Uryu told her, cheeks warming as he made his way up the stairs. He didn't have to look hard for Hinata's room. Ichigo was standing outside in the hallway looking like he'd been hit by a train (which was also how Uryu felt after witnessing the fiasco downstairs) and familiar voices drifted through the open door. Uryu cleared his throat and grinned when Ichigo jumped.

"Uryu!" Ichigo yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Hinata missed class. I brought her homework."

"I could have done that!" Ichigo said with a glare.

"Uryu?" Hinata's head poked out of the doorway.

Uryu frowned when he saw how pale she was. Even though she was smiling, she looked as if she could use another day off school to catch up on some sleep. "I brought your homework."

"Who on earth put you into that MONSTROSITY!" another familiar voice hollered from the bedroom.

"It's not a monstrosity!" Rukia yelled. "She looks adorable! Just like Chappy the bunny!"

Uryu closed his eyes, already picturing in his head what was going on in the bedroom. The crazy man with feathers was in there, obviously upset by whatever Hinata was wearing, and Rukia was also in there defending it. He opened his eyes to see that Hinata's head had vanished back into the bedroom. Warily, he peeked into the room, noticing that Ichigo had a hand to his face, and saw Hinata in the middle of a tug of war. She was dressed in a bunny pajama onsie. Uryu felt the blood drain from his face; he had to agree with the feather man – a bunny onsie was definitely not stylish.

"Uncle Kisuke gave it to me!" Hinata told them, her eyes wide.

Uryu moved to save her, but Ichigo beat him too it. Ichigo slid into the room and wrenched Hinata away from the two Shinigami, placing her protectively behind his back. "I thought I told you not to wake her up."

Rukia smiled innocently up at Ichigo. "We didn't wake her up, Ichigo. Your dad did."

Hinata turned to Uryu, pouting. "Don't you like my pajamas?"

Uryu tried to clear his throat, but found himself speechless.

"Sit down!" Ichigo roared. "I thought we were supposed to have a meeting! Do you know how much time you've wasted?"

Everyone in the room shut up instantly and sat down meekly on Hinata's bed. Uryu glanced at them all, recalling all of their names: present were Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rukia, and Renji. Shifting nervously, he realized he had wasted his time here too.

"Um, Hinata," Uryu said slowly. "I have to go, but I'll leave your homework downstairs if that's all right."

Hinata gave him a smile. "Absolutely! Thank you for bringing it."

He stayed long enough for her to give him a quick hug before fleeing downstairs, his cheeks burning. He set the homework on the dining room table, making sure his note about training and his instructions were situated in the middle of the stack before rushing back out the door.

. . .

"You wanted to know about arrancars, right?" Renji asked.

After calling the room back to order Ichigo had been about to take them out of the room when Hinata said she wanted to be involved too! So they stayed in her room under the condition that Hinata lie down in her bed. Ichigo had tucked her in before sitting on the edge looking at the group.

"Arrancars are simply hollows who have abandoned their masks and claimed Shinigami powers," Rukia explained with her notepad out.

Hinata gave a soft giggle as she looked at Rukia's pictures; the little one looked a little like Ulqui. "That's not how it works. . ." Hinata said as she gave a big yawn and snuggled deeper into her blankets. Her eyes were getting heavy.

"Huh?" Everyone in the room turned to look at her. "What do you mean, Hinata?" Rukia asked.

"They don't abandon their masks. If they did, they would be a weak arrancar." She stifled another yawn. "They chose to take their mask off because they don't need it anymore."

Renji was looking back and forth between Ichigo and Hinata who seemed barely awake anymore. "They don't need it anymore?"

Hinata gave a small nod against her pillow. "Their masks hide what they are missing. . ."

"What are they missing Hinata?" Rukia asked. She also had a puzzled look on her face.

When no response came, she walked over to find that Hinata had fallen asleep. When Rukia moved to wake her, Ichigo grabbed her wrist. He held a finger up to his lips and shook his head. He led the group out of her room, silently shutting her door before going into his own room.

Renji was looking at him when he came in. "Ichigo, why does Hinata act as if she knows all about arrancars?"

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't know. She was half asleep for the whole thing, so I'm not even sure she knew what she said."

Renji and Rukia both shared a look before continuing on with their explanation of why they were here.

. . .

Isshin stopped and grabbed his knees. It had been a long time since he had had to run like that. Matsumoto had gotten better.

"Are you done running, Captain?"

Isshin jumped back as the voice spoke off to his right. Matsumoto was crouching on the wall looking down at him. He was trying to decide if he could still run when another voice spoke from behind him.

"Matsumoto, what did I tell you about running off!?"

Turning slightly he saw Toshiro standing behind him. His shoulders sagged; he had been caught. After allowing himself a short amount of self-pity, he stood up straight. It was then that the young captain finally seemed to have a good look at Isshin.

"Captain Shiba!"

"Yes."

"I knew it!" Matsumoto ran forward, giving the man a big hug. "Where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come back? Because you left, Toshiro became captain, and he makes me do so much work, and he never drinks with me!" She gave a pouty face.

A twitch appeared on Toshiro's face as he flew towards her, dragging her off Isshin as he yelled and chewed her out. Isshin smiled. It was almost like he had never left, but. . . he turned to face the direction of his house. He had a family now that he loved.

He cleared his throat. They both stopped fighting and looked up at him. "I'm no longer the Captain Shiba you know. I'm Isshin Kurosaki, father of four beautiful children who have no idea that I was a Shinigami. I would like to keep it that way. Please don't tell my children about this, and don't tell the soul society either. If they knew I was here, I fear what they would do."

Rangiku just looked at him confused while Toshiro crossed his arms and frowned as he thought about it. Isshin watched them desperately. Hinata was the only one who knew he was a Shinigami, but she hadn't said a word about it to Ichigo. He couldn't help smiling as he thought about his baby girl, but was drawn back to the situation at hand when Toshiro spoke up.

"Matsumoto, have you ever heard of an Isshin Kurosaki?" Captain Hitsugaya asked in a low tone.

"Nope!" Matsumoto said with a grin. "I've never heard of him before."

Isshin smiled weakly. "You won't tell Ichigo either, right?"

Captain Hitsugaya met his gaze. "If we said anything, we'd tell him of a Captain Shiba. I have no interest in a man by the name of Isshin Kurosaki."

The captain turned on his heel and began to make his way back the way they'd come. Rangiku moved to follow him, but turned back to quickly give Isshin a tight hug before running off. Isshin was exhausted and decided to take a moment to rest while he tracked their spirit pressures. He could feel that things had settled down at home and so he decided to take his time returning back to his house.

. . .

Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya came in at the tail end of Rukia's and Renji's explanation of arrancars. He had a headache after chasing Matsumoto around, and now it was intensified by Ichigo's blank expression. He sighed and explained further. "Menos are separated by three categories. The first kind is a 'gilian.' These are the weakest type of menos. Consider them a soldier type."

"The one I fought before was just a soldier?" Ichigo whispered in awe.

Captain Hitsugaya rubbed at his temples. "They're slow and stupid. The problem is that the second class are known as 'Ajucas.' They are smaller and more uncommon than Gilian. The third class are 'Vastrode' or 'Vastolordes.' They are the most powerful of any menos, and their size resembles a human more than any hollow. Their numbers are unbelievably small, and they are known only to exist deep within Hueco Mundo. The strength of a single vastrode is above that of any captain!"

Ichigo was frowning. "What about their masks? The one I met in the park yesterday didn't have his full mask."

Captain Hitsugaya frowned as well. "We don't actually know much about that. I suppose their mask has something to do with their power –"

Ichigo cut him off. "So that's what Hinata was saying when she fell asleep!"

Captain Hitsugaya stared at the orange haired substitute soul reaper. "She said what?"

Rukia twiddled with her pen and mumbled, "She was half asleep. I doubt she's even met a full-fledged arrancar. She did mention something about their power being tied to taking off their masks though."

Captain Hitsugaya was halfway to the door when Ichigo grabbed him. "Don't wake her up!" Ichigo begged. Captain Hitsugaya looked down at where Ichigo had grabbed his arm, then back up at the boy. "Please," Ichigo said, "she's already had enough excitement for today. Let her be."

"Fine," Captain Hitsugaya said, pulling free from Ichigo's grasp, " but I have questions for her when she awakens."

Ichigo had a worried look on his face. Did he know something about the strange girl that he wasn't sharing with them? Captain Hitsugaya couldn't shake the feeling that Hinata was more than what she appeared to be.