Christmas Nightmare
~ Gathering Storm ~

Glancing at her bedroom window, Karin waited apprehensively for everyone to come home. She couldn't push away the feeling that bad news would come home. Her eyes drifted over to Yuzu and saw that her sister had already fallen asleep. Letting out a sigh, the dark haired twin stood up and moved to the doorway and headed downstairs.

"You shouldn't go outside looking for him." Isshin stated from over at the couch as he stared at the television.

The small female glanced at the door and walked over to her father and sat down next to him. "Toshiro's oto-san already told me that. I wasn't planning on going out either. I can't sleep though."

"The kids tough, I'm sure he will be fine." Isshin stated, still watching the television, despite the fact the show was in truth rather childish.

"I still have a bad feeling. You wouldn't understand because you can't see ghosts and stuff, but that isn't the only thing that sets me apart from other kids. I don't like these feelings I have." Karin glanced at the ground.

At that, Isshin turned his head towards his small daughter. "What exactly do you like about him?"

"You might say that Toshiro is the first person that I've known who is around my age who can also see ghosts." The small female pulled her knees to her chest. "He also happens to have the same feeling as Ichi-nii. Actually, it is more then a feeling, but I can't explain it to you because you can't see ghosts."

At that, the man let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. "Are you talking about the fact that Toshiro and Ichigo both have shinigami abilities?"

At that, Karin blinked a couple of times, her eyes showing a great deal of disbelief. "You know what a shinigami is?"

"Yeah. I do." Isshin opened his eyes to look at the television, not really watching what was going on. "I think that you are going to find some things out about my past and you are going to honestly be mad at me for keeping them from you and your siblings."

"Are you telling me you used to be a shinigami?" The female preteen blinked a couple of times. Her father simply stared forward, not giving her an answer. "You were!" The black haired girl then stood up and pointed at the door. "If you have shinigami powers, why aren't you out there looking for Toshiro! What he did was stupid and he's putting himself in danger. You know very well that he is!"

"First off, I decided to be the person to stay behind in case Toshiro came back here. Second, my getting involved with looking for him might actually complicate the situation." Isshin took a deep breath, then turned off the television, standing up as he did so. "All of the ones looking for Toshiro should be back soon. I need to head upstairs so that a fire storm doesn't happen."

"Is Toshiro with them." Karin grabbed his sleeve, tugging on it.

At that, Isshin looked at her. Something in his eyes caused her to back down, as it was a look more serious then she had ever seen about him. However, she then glared at him, telling him that she expected an answer from him. "No. Toshiro isn't with them. Gin... you know him as Toshiro's father... something about his reiatsu is off."

"Is that bad?" The female persisted at the subject. "Ichi-nii never answers my questions. You're both hiding things, and that isn't fair."

"Ichimaru's rather strong." The man stated, watching the small female carefully. "You don't want me to leave, do you?"

"Are you... do you think you are strong enough to get Toshiro back?" At that point, Karin let go of his sleeve and turned away.

"Shiro-chan's a special friend to you?" Isshin let out a sigh and sat down, placing a hand on the top of her head. "I can't promise anything except that I'll do my best." He then gave her a smile. "If I stay, be prepared for finding out some stuff I think you would rather me tell you when I can sit down with you."

"I really need you to stay." The small female stated, as Isshin reached for the remote and turned the television back on. Not long after that, the two Kurosaki's heard the front door open. Karin quickly moved to a position where she was glancing over the back of the couch, her eyes filled with worry.

Ichigo walked into the room with Ichimaru slung over his shoulder. An orange eyebrow rose up upon seeing his small sister. "Shouldn't you be in bed Karin?"

"Toshiro isn't with you, is he?" The Kurosaki female frowned at those who stood in front of her.

At that, Isshin suddenly piped up. "I told you, Toshiro wasn't with them. I could sense that from here, that and the fact that Gin was out."

"That voice..." Rangiku's eyes suddenly went wide. "I know that voice."

There came a deep sigh, and the man suddenly stood up. "Of course you know this voice Ran-chan."

Matsumoto's reaction was rather quick. She found herself storming over to the man, then swinging her fist square into his jaw. A cracking sound could be heard, and Isshin tumbled backwards, onto the ground. He stared up at the ceiling, letting out a groan, while Karin suddenly stared at him in bewilderment.

"You! You're supposed to be dead!" Rangiku pointed a finger at the man, her face filled with fury. "Does taicho know that you're alive? Actually, do you know what kind of mental break down that child had when we all thought you died over twenty years ago? Do you know how long it took him to recover from that break down?"

At that, the eldest Kurosaki simply stood up, glaring at the woman. However, Karin spoke up, curiosity in her voice. "Matsumoto-san. You know my father?"

At that, the busty female blinked a couple of times, and then turned to look at Ichigo. "Shiba Isshin is your father?"

At that, the substitute shinigami blinked a couple of times. After a few minutes, he spoke up, his voice sounding rather dumbfounded. "Are you telling me that I am related to Shiba Ganju, of all people?"

"Well, it would explain why you look a lot like Kaien, except for the hair color." Rukia placed a hand on her chin, thinking about the situation.

Rangiku found herself blinking a couple of times. "I hadn't noticed t he resemblance, but it actually is there."

"What about Toshiro?" Karin piped up, glaring at the older people around her. "I don't care who I'm related to and don't know about right now. What I want to know is how you guys are going to get him back."

Isshin stood up, rubbing his chin. "Ichigo, get Gin into the clinic. I'll be in there in a a bit to look him over. Rukia, call Soul Society and let them know that Hitsugaya Taicho has been taken by the enemy that took Gin before."

"How do you know that?" Rangiku blurted out the words, as she suddenly began to pace back and forth, her body tensing up.

"Because, there are similarities to what happened before." Isshin then shook his head and rephrased his order to Rukia. "Actually, tell them that we think he has been kidnapped by the same people who kidnapped Gin. We aren't sure if Gin had a hand in the kids disappearance."

At that, the small dark haired Kurosaki became irate. "Gin-san wouldn't hurt Toshiro! He's his father! He cares about him!"

At that, the busty female suddenly pulled the preteen female into her arms. "I've known Gin for a very long time, and even I can't be sure of that, Karin-chan."

"I'm positive. I am so positive that he does care about Toshiro." The small female felt a few tears roll down her cheeks. "Why the hell is this happening?"

At that, the doctor let out a deep sigh. "Rangiku, I honestly think that Gin cares about Toshiro and wouldn't want to harm that child unless he felt that he had to do so to protect Toshiro. I saw something a few days ago, which makes me feel this way."

He then headed towards the clinic to examine Gin. Matsumoto began to cry into the preteen child's shoulder. Karin glanced up. "Don't worry. My father's going to find Toshiro. He promised me he would do everything he can to get him back."

M

The room had a chill to it, due to the fact that the heating system had been long turned off. Even though they had retreated to an inner part of the old building, warmth was something hard to find. A woman with red lips stood at the doorway, staring out into the hallway. A look of boredom was maintained on her facial features.

Over in a corner, a white haired boy shivered, holding out his right arm. His breathing came with a raggedness and his eyes were dilated. His hand showed signs of a rash that had begun to heal, and another starting up. His once bright teal eyes stared at said hand as his body shivered and his breath came out in rough puffs.

Another child sat in front of him, eying him carefully, not saying a single word. Her knees were pulled up to her chest. She didn't even move when a mouse came scuttling between them, across the dirty floor of the building that they were using for their hideout. The mouse found a hole, and ran into it, taking with it meager findings.

Finally, the female moved from her spot and walked over to the boy. "Shiro-chan, how would you like to get revenge on that father of yours?" She knelt down, only to find that she wasn't getting a response from the child. She heard his breath coming out, and then in frustration slapped him hard across his cheek. "Were you even listening to me?"

"It hurts." The boy suddenly spoke up, a few tears welling in his eyes.

"Of course that hurt! I asked you if you want to get revenge on that father of yours." The woman let out a deep sigh.

At that, Toshiro raised up his left hand and pointed to his right. "It hurts."

"I think his hand hurts." Ivy spoke up, finally breaking her silence.

At that, the thin female grabbed his hands and pulled back the sleeve, revealing that a bad rash had actually begun. "I thought your vines were simply for restraining people."

"They are." The small girl stated, reaching her hand out to touch the rash. "At least, I think they are."

The male child flinched upon the touch and tried to pull away from the two females. However, the adult held onto his hand. She pointed to herself, and they the girl. "I am Holly, and this is Ivy. The names were chosen to be a pun off a Christmas song because we were created with the intentions of taking away hope of such seasons."

There came no response from the young male, his breathing still coming out roughly. Ivy turned to the older person. "I think he is sick and needs medicine."

At that, Holly found herself wincing, wishing suddenly that she didn't have children to help her, but instead actual adults. "Adults are likely to turn on you, while children have an innocent trust." At that, she smirked at the boy. "Look, Ivy and I are now your family. I hope you understand that, because tomorrow, we're going to get you some medicine. We're also going to make our presence known. Until then, you are to pretend that the pain doesn't exist."