Chapter 12: Bad Standard

Karakura Town

Back in the world of the living, Isshin and Ukitake are patrolling a particular street.

"You wait here, Mr. Ukitake, I need to take a leak. That candy shop has a public restroom." Isshin gestures to a candy shop that is on the side of the road, in a yard behind some buildings.

"But your house is just down the road…" Ukitake notices the look Isshin is giving him before nodding in understanding, "I see, well be back as soon as you can."

Ururu and Jinta greet Isshin, the former opening the door to let him in.

Tessai, currently restocking some shelves, regards the man, "Isshin! What can I help you with?"

Isshin responds carelessly, "I need to use your restroom. Let your boss know I'm here, I'll want to chat with him once I'm out."

Tessai nods, directing the man to the restroom.

Once Isshin gets out, he remarks, "I drank too much at Shunsui's…"

A voice calls out to him, "Ah, Isshin, my good man. How may I help you on this lovely morning?"

Urahara wears a jolly expression, but Isshin maintains an expression a bit more serious, "I'm starting to get worried about Yuzu. I obviously still can't see her, but I'd like to at least be able to maintain the front that I am around… you still have some Soul Candy? Because I'm out."

Urahara tilts his hat, hiding one of his eyes, as he peers at Isshin dubiously, "Y'know, your daughter seems like the type to catch onto a fake immediately. Are you sure this wouldn't spook her more?"

Isshin seems to contemplate this for a moment before answering, "We can just have the gigai write it off as my being under the weather and acting weird, what with all that's been happening to my family recently, it's not far off the truth… I just can't have Yuzu thinking that I've abandoned her…"

Isshin clenches his fist looking down in guilt.

Urahara hums, "Ururu. Would you please go collect some of the Soul Candy in the storeroom that we set aside?"

The girl nods before going into the other room, unknowingly stopping at a box labeled as 'damaged goods'.

Ururu returns rather quickly, handing the shop keeper a candy dispenser.

Urahara then hands off the candy dispenser, "Now, you'll want to re-enter your gigai before placing this in your mouth, as it won't work otherwise."

"Gotcha, how much do I owe you?" Isshin reenters his gigai in the other room, pulling out his wallet before haggling a fair price with Urahara.

After handing him the agreed upon amount, Isshin dispenses the Candy into his mouth, separating his soul from his body. His body doesn't go limp; however, instead remains standing.

The gigai regards Isshin in a monotone, "How may I be of service?"

Isshin explains, "I just need you to stay at my house—the Clinic down the road, and pretend to be me, especially when my daughter is around. You should find a picture of her in my wallet."

The gigai nods in acknowledgement, before the captain takes his leave. The gigai; however, has no intention of doing what Isshin said.

Shopping District, Karakura Town

The few days had been quite life-changing for Yuzu, having awakened both her Fullbring and Quincy powers, as well as undergoing training in both areas. However, today, she is shadowing the two Quincy women along the street.

Yuzu shifts nervously, "Are you sure it's ok for me to miss school?"

Bambietta shrugs, "We got a 'doctor's note', so you should be fine."

Yuzu frowns, "Yeah, but… my uncle got that for therapy… I'm supposed to be going there to help get through losing a family member…"

Bambietta rolls her eyes, "Yeah, right. Like therapy ever helped anybody with anything…"

Yuzu furrows her brow, looking ready to argue, but doesn't get the chance as the green-haired Sternritter accompanying them halts her train of thought.

"Ugh, doesn't any of these places have half decent clothes?!" Candice shouts ticked off that the fashion around here doesn't match up with her own.

Bambietta stares blankly at her companion, "You were so quiet, I almost forgot you were here. I figured you knew that Japan is a much more modest nation than most Western ones…"

Candice glares at her companion briefly, "Revealing clothes doesn't mean skank by default, Bambi."

"But it does in your case." Bambietta replies matter-of-factly, causing a vein to pulsate out of the other woman's head.

Before she can give voice to her irritation, Bambietta sets her attention back on Yuzu, raising a finger of declaration, "If you want people to respect you, then you'd ought not take out of Candy's book as far as fashion goes…"

Yuzu simply nods, not fully understanding what they are even talking about. Sparks crackle along Candice's body as she shakes in rage, the scene making a passersby keep their distance.

Candice hisses, "And just WHAT is so bad about showing off a little skin anyway?! Especially when you look as good as I do!"

Bambietta shakes her head, "I get caring about your appearance, but you take it to an unnecessary extreme, Candy. I doubt any of our peers respect you. ~"

"That's it!" Candice tries to punch Bambietta, who sidesteps, having anticipated the attack.

"Geez I was just teasing, Candy. You need to calm down." Bambietta states condescendingly.

Candice snarls, "YOU'RE one to talk about calming down! Last time I teased YOU, you almost kill—"

"Um…" Yuzu decides to speak up, which causes the electric woman to calm down by a few degrees.

Bambietta glances at the girl, raising an amused brow, "What is it, Yui?"

Yuzu explains, "I see where Candice is coming from. In some of the anime I watch, the lesson is always to take pride in yourself and your appearance, regardless of the way you dress… and I can tell that Candice puts time into her appearance and takes pride in it too, if she didn't, she wouldn't put so much time into doing her hair in the morning."

"You know about that…?" Candice's eyes widen slightly, not believing the girl to be the observant type to keep tabs on the ways others act.

Bambietta snickers, "Candy, an anime character? That's funny!"

The blonde tilts her head, slightly put off by being compared to an anime character, before shrugging, "Well, if Yuzu here thinks I'm like a character from a show she likes, then that's infinitely better than being a skank, no matter what the character is… so, thanks kid!"

Candice ruffles Yuzu's hair, causing the girl to blush lightly.

Bambietta snorts, "Whatever…"

Candice picks up on an earlier point in the conversation, "So are you paying that close of attention to everyone, or just me?"

Yuzu shakes her head, thoroughly explaining, "I have been keeping an eye on everyone at the hideout over the last day. Riruka likes to make herself look good too, but in a cute way compared to a sexy one. She likes painting her nails rainbow colors and keeps a collection of plushies, among other things, in her dollhouse. Yukio, of course, seems to spend most of his time playing video games and acts coldly to most, but I've found he has a nice gentle side too."

Yuzu pauses, taking a breath, "Mr. Ginjo likes ramen, you both know that—but he also likes to drink alcohol and watch professional sports on the TV. And last but not least, Chad seems to spend most of his time helping people out around the hideout, particularly with things like moving heavy furniture, so I was surprised to find out he has a passion for music. I saw him play the guitar late last night."

Candice stares at Yuzu quietly for a moment, not having time to digest all that information in one go.

Bambietta whistles, "You really are a homebody, aren't you?"

Yuzu sheepishly rubs the back of her neck, chuckling with a light blush, "Well, yeah. But that's the way I had to be back home."

The women each raise a brow.

Candice asks, "What's that mean?"

Before Yuzu can answer, a familiar voice calls out to her, sending an odd chill down her spine, "I spy with my little eyes, two gorgeous women and an adorable little girl!"

Yuzu turns around to see what looks to be Isshin in casual clothing.

Yuzu, temporarily shocked, does nothing as the Isshin flirts with the women, "Oh, I daresay you are the most electrifying beauty I've ever laid eyes on!"

The man quickly pecks Candice on the cheek, leaving her momentarily stunned by how forward this old guy is being.

"And you! You're such a cutie my heart could explode!" Isshin grabs the woman's hand and lightly kisses the top of it.

Bambietta is expressionless, thinking to herself, "I feel like I've seen him before…"

Realizing it could be considered rude not to offer a response, Bambietta scoffs at Candice, "Well at least some people around here can appreciate some true class!"

Candice snorts at this, "It's coming from an old creepy guy we just met, Bambi, I wouldn't say it's exactly a complement. And who said you could kiss me?!"

The green-haired woman growls at the newly arrived man, who steps back having a bad feeling as light sparks from the woman's skin.

The Isshin raises his hands defensively, "What's the problem…? All I did was kiss you on the cheek…"

Yuzu breaks out of her trance, "What are you doing here, dad?!"

The Isshin lookalike turns to Yuzu, getting a better look at her from up close.

"Wait… she's this guy's daughter from the photo!", the man thinks to himself.

The Isshin turns his head to the side, stating carelessly, "Oh, y'know me. I just thought I'd get out and live a little."

The women gawk, realizing that this is Yuzu's father, which make the advances he made even more gross to Candice in particular.

Yuzu's eyes widen slightly, but then pretends to cry, wiping her eyes with her hands, "Oh no! You've moved on and forgotten about mom! Dad, how could you—I'm not ready for a stepmom!"

Candice almost hurls at the thought, "No…! Just, no! If anything, I would want to be her older sister or cousin, maybe Aunt on a bad day—but mom? No way in Hell!"

Bambietta simply laughs out loud, finding the idea of being Yuzu's legal guardian immensely amusing.

The Isshin is quiet for a while, lost in his thoughts, "What should I do—I don't know who the mother is, or I guess was? I don't know how to deal with this!"

Yuzu can see this man lost in thought before bringing voice to the suspicions she's had since he arrived, shifting to a serious expression, "You're not my dad, are you? He would be fawning over Masaki for sure right now!"

The Isshin raises a brow, carelessly blurting out, "So Masaki is your mom's name?"

There is dead silence before the three girls start to stare at the man like he is trash.

"Who are you?!" Yuzu demands of him.

Before any of them can act, the Isshin leaps off from the ground to the top of a building. Yuzu and Bambietta move to follow.

"Wait, don't follow him." Candice states in a cautious tone.

Bambietta looks back at her companion with a fierce expression, "We can't just let him get away!"

Yuzu nods in agreement.

Candice explains her reasoning, "You two need to keep a level head. Think. If we were to follow him, we may be falling into an enemy ambush!"

Yuzu looks at the woman with disagreement and worry, "But if we do nothing, my dad could be in serious danger!"

Bambietta shrugs, adding before Candice can explain, "To be honest, that's his problem. Candy has a point—we can't afford to risk losing you to help some unfortunate human, no matter who he be. The mission comes first."

"Exactly. Sorry, kid." Candice states in genuine disappointment.

Yuzu doesn't look content at this, prompting the green-haired Sternritter to let out a sigh, "You know how it is… with all these 'gangs' around here and all. I'm sure he'll be fine anyway; he is your father, after all."

Yuzu tilts her head downward, ashamed that despite her newfound powers she is still unable to use them to help anyone.

A black cat observes the scene from a distance away, panicking, "That clearly wasn't Isshin! I need to inform Kisuke about this immediately!"

The cat spares the girl a glance, "Poor girl… I'll have to explain things to you another time… just hold out a little longer!"

The cat runs off in the direction of Urahara's shop.

Elsewhere in Karakura Town

The Isshin continues waltzing around the town before he considers another photo that he found in Isshin's wallet—one of him in a black kimono, a beautiful woman with orange hair in a white dress—who must be this 'Masaki', and a white-haired bi-speckled man in a white suit. The three of them stand in front of what looks like a European styled Mansion, which the doppelganger can see in the distance.

The Isshin smirks, "Only really close friends can be in wedding photos, and from what I can gather—that place is that guy's home. I ought to go enjoy myself by living some of the cozy life!"

The Isshin steps down in front of the door to the mansion, knocking on the door. A maid opens the door, and her eyes widen in recognition of one of her master's closest friends. She lets him in and guides him to the study.

The Isshin looks around for a while, possibly an hour or so, through various books.

The man snarls, "Aw, c'mon! Where's the pool!"

Suddenly, the doors to the study open, revealing a white-haired man who regards him coldly, "One of my servants called me and told me you were here. I am quite busy at the hospital this week, so I'll keep it brief—what do you want, Isshin? I thought you said you would be completely busy as well."

"Aww c'mon don't be like that.", the Isshin walks up and slings an arm around the Quincy, carelessly, "Can't I just stop in and check on a pal every once in a while?"

The man adjusts his glasses, "I don't ever recall telling you that you are welcome in my home."

The Isshin snorts, "Well, as you say, things have been quite busy lately, and I've been overrun with stress…" He then looks at Ryuken with a more suggestive gaze, "Can't you just spare one or two of your maids to me for old time's sake?"

Ryuken's eyes widen, before his expression stiffens, "For a friend… perhaps, if the maids were indeed willing… but they aren't. Besides, you aren't Isshin are you?"

This causes the Isshin to step back, "How could you say that?"

Ryuken narrows his eyes, "It's simple. Because rather than ask for sexual favors from my maids, Isshin would only ever come to this place to ask about his daughter—he is much more of a doting father than you seem to give him credit for."

By this point, Ryuken's Quincy cross has lit up, revealing a bright blue bow.

"Oh shit!", the Isshin calls out as he runs out of the mansion.

On his way out, he passes a limping bi-speckled teen with dark hair being assisted by a butler, looking completely confused at the sight of him.

Near a Playground, Karakura Town

Isshin and Ukitake sit near a playground, observing the children play.

"Do you like kids?" Isshin suddenly asks the man.

Ukitake is taken off guard by the sudden question, "Oh… why yes, I suppose I do. Their purity, or rather innocence, is something that ought to be cherished and preserved as long as possible… it's partly why I do this job—to ensure that families are not torn apart by the supernatural occurrences of the world."

Isshin's eyes are downcast at this, prompting Ukitake to place a hand on Isshin's shoulder, "I'm sorry about what happened to your son… I very much would have liked to meet him. From what you've told me, he was a lot like Kaien."

Isshin's gaze eases at this, "He was… damn near his spitting image, actually."

This prompts Ukitake to raise a contemplative hand to his chin, "You don't say…"

Just then, Isshin's phone starts to ring out, "Sorry, I got to take this."

Ukitake merely nods, still consumed by his thoughts, as Isshin steps away.

Isshin answers his phone, "I thought I told you not to call me on duty… what? Are you sure?! … Alright, I'll keep an eye out."

Isshin hangs up the phone as Ukitake gives him a curious look.

Isshin elaborates, "I think it's time you met some of my allies, Mr. Ukitake."

Ukitake looks at Isshin with a friendly expression, "In that case, how about you call me Jushiro when it's just the two of us? I assume this is off the books?"

Isshin nods, "I'd appreciate your secrecy in this matter."

The two give each other a look, before Isshin takes off, Jushiro following closely behind.

Karakura Elementary School

The two captains followed the trail of troubled individuals the doppelganger left in his wake, leading them to find a hollow on the roof of a school. They see Isshin's gigai attempting to battle the beast, but is struggling to do so, taking multiple wounds. Isshin flash steps in front of the beast, parrying what would have been a fatal attack with his still sheathed Zanpakuto. Isshin prepares to unsheathe his blade to finish the hollow off, but is unable to as the hollow sends one of it's centipede-like legs through Isshin at a speed he is unable to keep up with.

"Damn…!" Isshin states as he is forced to back away.

The hollow lunges at Isshin for a follow-up before it is suddenly split in two.

The gigai is shocked by what he just witnessed, looking at Jushiro standing in front of him in amazement, "He didn't even draw his sword…"

Jushiro kneels down to Isshin, chanting a Kaido spell. After the spell is complete, Isshin rises to his feet, "Thanks… it seems my powers are still returning… not to mention my being rusty."

Jushiro waves his hand, "Don't worry about it Isshin. I'm sure you'll be back to your full power soon enough."

Isshin nods before walking around Jushiro and picking up his doppelganger by the collar, beginning to shout at him, "You fool! First, you highjack my body and use it to mess around with women, and now you're trying to fight a hollow! Are you trying to get me killed?!"

The Isshin looks away, "I was just trying to help those kids…"

Isshin follows his gaze and sees three children, around his daughters' age, being chewed out by a woman who he recognizes as one of the teachers. Isshin's expression is one of slight surprise, nearly all the anger in him dissipating.

The doppelganger elaborates, "…from my earliest memories, I can recall being in a test tube, alongside many others who were just like me. One by one they were all destroyed by the Soul Society, and I was left to wonder when it was my time to face a similar fate…"

Jushiro's eyes widen in shock at this information.

"You're… a mod soul?" the man nearly gasps out.

Isshin's doppelganger nods, "Yes. By all means, I shouldn't even exist right now, but by some small, twisted change of fate, my container was confused for normal Soul Candy, and as a result I was able to evade the fate that befell so many of my brethren. After that point I decided, that nobody has the right to take the life of another living being."

Jushiro gives the mod soul a conflicted look while Isshin looks off in the distance. Suddenly, a gloved hand bursts out from behind the gigai's back, leaving the body to fall limply to the ground while the small candy rolls in front of the feet of the two captains. Jushiro eyes the culprits curiously. He can see a small girl with black, twin-tailed hair and a boy with spiky red hair, both wearing seemingly casual clothing.

The girl walks over to where the candy rolled, picking it up from the ground, "Sorry for selling you damaged goods, we'll replace it immediately."

The small girl does a quick, polite bow.

Ukitake gives Isshin a look, "What are they talking about? They sold that to you?"

The bearded captain doesn't look back at his peer, "I'll explain it to you later…"

Just then, the boy snorts, "See you around, Goat-chin!"

The two turn around and start walking away.

"Hold it!" Isshin calls out, prompting the duo to pause in their stride, "What do you plan on doing to him?"

Ururu turns around to look at Isshin, "We must destroy it."

"He's done nothing wrong." Isshin argues, with a fire in his eyes.

"Shiba…" Ukitake warns.

"Mod souls are illegal, Goat-chin! Everybody knows this! Are you seriously expecting us to break the law in front of one of the court guard captains?" Jinta questions.

Isshin shakes his head, "No, I'll spare you and your boss from that. Give me that mod soul back."

Both Jinta and Ukitake look at Isshin with stunned expressions.

"You do realize I would need to take you in for that…" Ukitake murmurs.

Isshin shoots a look at the older captain, "I don't think you will, though. I can tell, Jushiro, that your sense of honor aligns with the plight this mod soul faces. He has a conscience and was protecting those kids from the hollow. If he weren't here, those children may have very well died. Sometimes, doing the right thing means you have to break the law."

Ukitake's gaze softens at this, acknowledging that Isshin is correct about that.

"Well, we're not going to break the law in front of a captain!" Jinta and Ururu move to walk away, but Ukitake flash steps in front of them, cutting them off.

Isshin walks up to Ururu and snatches the candy out of her hand, "I'm satisfied with the product I bought and would like to keep it. Last time I checked, your boss didn't have a policy that the owner is allowed to recall goods sold at any time… am I going to have to leave a bad review?"

Jinta sweat drops as Ururu shifts uncomfortably, eyeing Ukitake worriedly, "Are you sure you're fine with this, sir?"

Ukitake nods, "It may not be lawful, but as Captain Shiba stated, this is the correct course of action based on honor."

Jinta scowls, "You didn't get it from us, got it?"

"Fair enough." Ukitake agrees.

Jinta picks up Isshin's gigai before summoning some kind of magic carpet, taking both him and Ururu away from the school.

1 Hour Later

The two captains walk down the street late in the evening, discussing the events that transpired.

"So, what will you do with that mod soul now, Isshin?", Ukitake asks the other captain dubiously.

"Not sure.", the man states, as he looks at the piece of candy curiously.

Isshin casually looks at a pile of trash someone left on the side of the road, a stuffed lion laying at the top of the pile. Ukitake raises a brow when the man grabs the plushie and carelessly stuffs the candy in its mouth.

After a moment, the plushie starts coughing and the yells at Isshin, "Come on, let's go! I can take ya! Wait, why am I so small?!"

Ukitake sweat drops at the ridiculous display of a stuffed lion threatening a captain of Isshin's caliber.

Isshin picks up the doll, glaring at it, "Now listen here, Kon, you have caused a lot of trouble for me today. You also owe me from saving you from destruction, so I'm going to need you to do something for me."

The mod soul, now named Kon, nods briefly, "I understand, but do I really need to be called Kon? It sounds lame."

Isshin explains briefly how he came up with the name as a pun for what mod souls are called in Japanese before explaining what he wants Kon to do, "I'm going to leave you as a present for my daughter. You are going to watch over her closely in my stead while I'm busy. Make sure she stays out of trouble."

The stuffed lion tilts his head, "But she can't see spirits, right? Won't she get spooked by my talking?"

Isshin grumbles, "Well obviously you should play dead at first. I would prefer her to know as little as possible. But if it comes to that, just tell her you're one of Don Kanonji's sidekicks undercover or something, she'll probably buy it."

Kon nods as Isshin and Ukitake head towards the Clinic to drop off Yuzu's 'present'.

Las Noches

Roka Paramia has only ever known a life constrained to serving Szayelaporro, in whatever form that might entail. Currently, she counts herself lucky that she is serving him in the way she was created to—using her threads to assist his observational research.

The girl finds herself lost in her thoughts, "I feel sad for this poor hollow master Szayelaporro has set his sights on… but I'm just glad he doesn't seem interested in master Nelliel anymore…"

Szayel, noticing the girl deep in thought, slaps her across the face. Around them is a mostly dark room save for monitors here and there and an operating table. Next to the table is a slew of equipment that Roka is personally familiar with, in the worst kind of way. In the back, there is a door to a storage room, with the words 'Failed Subjects' labeled above it. Roka knows the room houses the corpses of various unfortunate hollows and Arrancars that Szayel experimented on or tortured to death. Roka needn't even use her threads to know that, as she is more than familiar with the distinct scent of rotting hollows by now. Szayel's lab very much fits as what one would expect from a mad scientist.

Szayel berates the girl, "I retrieved you from those imbeciles so that you could work as an extension of my will—not so that you could get lost in thoughts!"

The girl nods wordlessly before getting back to her feet and using her threads to scan over various locations in Hueco Mundo, feeding what she sees into one of the monitors for Szayel to view as well. Once the scene settles onto a group of about fifteen Adjuchas fighting amongst themselves, Szayel orders her to focus on that scene. What she sees is astonishing; a large orange-haired dragon Adjucha with long, forward-facing horns and a black striped pattern on its face. The beast is tearing through the group of Adjuchas with extreme violence. Her initial assessment that this was a free for all couldn't have been less true, in fact, it could hardly even be considered a fight, more like a one-sided slaughter.

"EXCELLENT!" Szayel calls out, observing the scene, "It seems that White is just as ferocious as the stories claim! I can see how he would've been able to wound that fool Barragan."

Szayel observes the dragon as it finishes devouring the last of the Adjuchas, "We'd best keep this confidential… it'd be a shame if Barragan kills him before I have a chance to witness this creature as a Vasto Lorde."

Roka notes that Szayel chose not to say, 'if he becomes a Vasto Lorde' as he would with any other Adjucha, but 'when', as if it was a forgone conclusion that this creature will reach the pinnacle of Menos evolution.

Szayel instructs, "Try and interweave your threads into his essence. Extract copies of his memories but be discrete about it! I'd like to get a better idea of what type of being this creature really is…"

Roka says nothing, following her master's instructions.

Author's Note:

I decided to add Kon to the fic, because I think it will definitely need the comic relief later on.

Furthermore, as I mentioned in the previous chapter, I'll continue to place snippets of Szayel and Roka throughout this arc, as well as some other hollows in Hueco Mundo here and there.

I must stress that Hueco Mundo will get its spotlight during the next arc, so hollow lovers please be patient—this background stuff is building towards that.