Chapter 7: Kisuke's project

Back in Karakura Town, Yoruichi was watching her best friend pacing the floor of the living room the whole time, pondering over what, she didn't know. Kisuke had been pondering just what exactly Ichigo was for weeks now and getting absolutely nowhere in the process. True, he was beyond pissed when Isshin told him that Ichigo was the one with that rampant energy, and he was also a little more than upset when Isshin just left Yuzu and Karin at his place. The two girls were doing just fine in all honesty, with both Tessai and Yoruichi mainly taking care of them, but it just caused Kisuke to become even more infuriated at how Isshin didn't tell him anything at first.

"You know Kisuke," Yoruichi started as she stood up from the floor. "If you keep pacing like that we're going to have a ditch in the living room."

Kisuke stopped and looked at her with an annoyed look on his face. The look was nearly foreign to Flash Goddess aside from a few times, and it really didn't help that he wasn't wearing his hat as well. "Now is not the time Yoruichi."

He continued to pace as he was still completely in the dark on Ichigo's powers while Aizen had an infinite supply of research on the boy by now. Yoruichi sighed at his lack of humor and made her way to the door. "Well, since you're being a bit too cynical right now, I'm gonna go feed Yuzu and Karin."

As she left the room, Kisuke started t think of something that he had been meaning to go over since he heard a few years ago. Yuzu and Karin were also Isshin and Masaki's children, same as Ichigo. Maybe they had something that Kisuke could examine. Was it cruel to basically act like Kurotsuchi in terms of research? Yes. Was it a necessary evil to experiment on infants in the hopes of understanding how Ichigo's power worked? To Kisuke, anything to stay ahead of Aizen in any way possible. He only hoped that the worst that happens to him after this was a beating from Isshin. No way could he handle one from an angry mother with pin point accuracy with any sharp object.

Soul Society, squad 10

Right now, Ichigo was eating with Toshiro and his mother in a private room away from the rest of the squad. Since Isshin had returned to active duty, Toshiro was back as a third seat, much to the behest of the lieutenant who wanted him to take her position. 'Lazy woman' was what Toshiro called her and then retook his old position just to spite her. Now that the work load was off of him to an extent, he was mainly around Ichigo and Masaki. Ichigo to train and Masaki to protect at the order of his captain.

"So," Masaki started as she sat at the table in her soul reaper outfit. "How was training, Ichigo?"

Ichigo smiled to her as he finished his third bowl of rice and pork rather quickly. He had always had a pretty monstrous appetite. "It's been going pretty great mom." He answered her with a big smile. "Toshiro's been teaching me control and now I can at least watch how much energy I use now."

Masaki smiled at her sons enthusiasm and then thanked Toshiro.

"It's really nothing." Toshiro said to her with a smirk of his own. "He may have too much power for someone his age, but his body seems to adapt to the changes, making it easier to train him physically."

"Well, now that you have control Ichigo," Masaki started in her serious 'mother' tone that immediately got his attention. "I don't want you to lose your temper for anything from now on. Okay?"

"Okay." Ichigo nodded to her and smiled with determination.

They continued to eat, not really noticing that they were being watched by prying eyes. The central 46 have been having an absolute field day with this whole situation. They saw the Kurosaki family as a threat to the soul society but knew that they couldn't really do anything about them. The Quincy woman was the biggest issue. They wanted her dead and gone so she didn't desecrate their home anymore than she already had. The problems lied with the boy and Isshin Shiba. The former captain was no slouch in combat, especially since he was trained by Yamamoto himself, but it was the boy that was the true unpredictability in the equation. Everyone knew not to make the boy angry, and hurting the woman was an easy way to do so.

The other pair of prying eyes watching them was none other than Sosuke Aizen. Ever since Isshin's return, his window of opportunity was dwindling rapidly. Soon enough, he would have to change over a centuries worth of planning completely. There would be no way to get the second half of the Hogyoku without interference from the former squad 10 captain. But it wasn't Isshin that was his main issue. No. That was the boy everyone was on edge about. Even after weeks of the boy releasing that foreign energy around the Seireitei, Aizen was no closer to figuring out this energy than he was when he captured Ichigo and Masaki back then. It irked him that in one fell swoop, his plans to conquer the spiritual worlds by slaying the Soul King had come to a screeching halt because of some boy he had no records on. From what he could gather from his research on Masaki and Isshin back in the human world, the boy just appeared out of nowhere. No records of him. No spirit energy when he first appeared that was detectable or even recorded. Nothing. This boy was truly an enigma, and Aizen relished the challenge of finding out everything he could on him for his own gain.

Not really much to say on this chapter aside from what was already said. Next chapter will have a small time skip in it. Hope ya'll enjoyed this and are still reading my other stories.

PEACE!