Bleach: The Alternate Tale

by blackout2010

We all know that Ichigo Kurosaki was a human who became a Shinigami, but what would happen if he was always a Shinigami when the events of bleach happened, perhaps an altered story. Very minor crossover with Sakura Wars. A/U A/T. Contains incest in later parts.

31. Ninchi Shinjitsu: Percieved truth

(Author's acknowledgment)

This chapter will also have scenes depicting adult problems and scenarios (nothing explicit, so no worries), that some may find a bit unnerving (IE hits close to home). After all, this fic didn't earn it's M rating just because of sexually explicit material, violence and language (although that did have something to do with it, haha).

But genuinely being serious, I would kindly request that viewers please be as respectful as I have been both in regards to foreign culture, lifestyle and those who know people with some mental issues (You'll only see it if you know what to look for). So again thank-you for your show of maturity.

Reading note: This chapter might seem like a bit of mind screw. So I would like to remind you, that we are following Soifon's perspective. Just FYI.

Side note: Originally this chapter was supposed to be part of last chapter, but I didn't want two super huge chapters back to back (it was already long so...). I know it's a pain, so sorry about that. Upside, it let me really edit and fine tune this chapter for you. So thumbs up!

(Author's acknowledgment end)

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(Author's credit giving.)

The setting for this…chapter I think it might have been influenced by an old fic I read that I found both heartbreaking and bittersweet. So, to both err on the side of caution and to happily give credit where credit is due, I would like to give a huge shout out to Highlord Cross (formerly Highlord Cross the Bloody) and his/her fic 'The Islander.' You rock.

Let see what else…I also freely admit to having semi-loosely based two characters with similar personalities to another. One of which is Eleanor Lamb (of Bioshock) and the other FeMorgan (of FE:A), so again giving credit, thank-you Intelligent system and 2k respectively. You guys also rock.

Also last chapter (totally forgot) Ichigo's Shingetsu was greatly inspired by Star Ocean: Till the end of time's Fayt Leingod's Dimension Door/Blade of Annihilation. Again, totally forgot, so Tri-ace (company), credit to you.

Final note: I don't own anything. Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo and all rights and…I don't know all the other stuff that goes in the disclaimer. It's been too long, since I last did one so I kinda forgot what to say. Anyway, Tite Kubo owns everything…I guess?

(Author's credit giving end)

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(Author's acknowledgment to the unknown review)

To unknown reviewer known only as: MasterDog

Firstly, thank-you for that and yeah, thing should be a lot better…hopefully. The second part…

…

…

Foreshadowing…?

(end author's response to unknown reviews)

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Prefic banter:

A small line of individuals are standing at attention. They are Hanataro Yamada, Ganju Shiba, Jirobo Ikazuchi, Hollow Ichigo and Hollow Senna.

Blackout2010: Gentlemen!

D. Miroku: Ahem!

Blackout2010 (ceases pacing):…And sex addict. (Resumes walking, Miroku glares.) You all have one thing in common in this story. Do you know what that is?

Hichigo: We have nothing in common?

Blackout2010: No.

Jirobo Ikazuchi: We had very little screen time?

Blackout2010: Close, but no.

Ganju: We're dead.

Blackout2010 (points): Exactly it. You my friends are all the known Shinigami related characters who have perished in the line of Fic that people actually gave a damn about. (looks at jirobo) except maybe you, but you made the cut because your a Canon character. (turns back) However, just because you are dead does not mean you are no longer needed.

All: Really?

Blackout2010: Yes, we need plenty of extras in Aizen's Arrancar army. It's too small to be considered an army. (points at Hanataro) starting from number 19, you are number 19, Ganju you are 20, Jirobo you are 21, Hichigo, you are 22, D. Senna you are 23, and you will continue counting off in Fibonacci sequence until a sizable size is reached.

Hichigo: But…won't people recognize us? And why are we doing this in the first place?

Blackout2010: Because we don't have enough for CGI inserts, we make no money off this what so ever. (Throws hand forward) So, go forward my loyal minions. Show them the power of the dead!

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Chapter 30: Ninchi Shinjitsu: Perceived Truth (1)

Darkness.

Black impenetrable darkness.

That's all Soifon saw around her after being sucked into her bathroom mirror.

She didn't understand how or why it happened, well, she did understand why. It was because Sosuke Aizen did something to her. Whether it was a mental trick by Kyoka Suigetsu, that she wasn't accustom to being subject to, or the man himself breached Soul Society and trapped her in another world, she didn't know.

But, all the same, she swore to herself, that once she undid whatever the hell that bastard did to her, and the chance to get her hands around his smug neck presented itself, she'd make him pay dearly and enjoy every second of it.

However, setting her vendetta aside, she was at a loss.

No matter which direction she turned her head, she couldn't see anything around her, no objects, no people, and no color, just a sea of black. On a more worrying note, she couldn't even tell if her own limbs were still attached to her. She felt like a disembodied emotion-feeling ghost; that was neither standing nor floating.

The only thing that came even remotely close to describe how she felt right now, was when she had asked Tosen to use his Bankai on her, so she could test her assassination training in an environment depriving her of her ability to use most of her five senses.

She was glad that she had that experience in her resume. Because, if she had been dropped into this void with no ability to feel anything at all, she would have had a major panic attack from the resulting disorientation, stress, and concern for both the well-being of herself and her unborn child.

After all, if you can't see anything or feel your body, that's a sure sign that you weren't long for this world.

Swinging her view to the left and right, she was stuck pondering what it was she should do to escape this prison, if she could call it that.

The lack of color and movement at least eased her to believe that she was alone and wouldn't be ambushed by an assailant, but at the same time the nothingness was literally her enemy, as it provided no clues and no clearly defined restrains to suggest escape.

Before she could get too involved in the all-encompassing problem, her salvation ironically came not from the darkness around her, but from within, specifically a muscle response. It was a small-agitated twitch. The muscle spasm every ten-fifteen seconds in what Shaolin supposed would be where her bicep was located, if she could see it. Her theory was further confirmed when she felt a cool breeze wash over the top of the muscle twitch in a narrow rectangular spread.

Soon the feeling spread out and seemingly encased her body. She wondered if something was blowing on her. If so, then what? A fan? The wind? A Zanpaktou? She didn't know, but the twitch in her arm prompted again, this time her hand flinched following the pulse.

Her fingers were interwoven between something soft, thin, flexible and sharp, while her thumb was slowly scraping back and forth against something both hard and dusty. 'What's going on? Am I alive?' she pondered to herself.

A sudden surge of heat that ran across the top of her skin answered her question. The warmth was quite hot, almost oppressively so, especially in her chest and thigh areas. "Ugggh…" she found her voice to work, which meant that she was alive, but she still couldn't see anything, only feel a collective of different sensations against her body.

Soon the full power of her hearing returned to her, which faintly allowed her to make out the sound of something that was rustling off in the distance, it was close but at the same time far away. "ooohmmm." Another grunted escaped, as the darkness around her changed colors, from the darkest of black to a more reddish center with black corners.

'This is all in my head. I'm okay.' The woman thought to herself, spending a moment to rationalize everything that happened so far. 'Maybe…maybe my eyes are closed, that's why I can't see.' She considered, it would explain her situation thus far. 'Okay, so let's try to open them.'

Concentrating on the lightening darkness, she tried to force her eyes to open. 'Open.' She commanded. All she got was red aura to lighten a bit more, before returning to its crimson hue. 'Open.' She willed again.

Another groan escaped her lips, but this time she could see her eyelashes flitting opening, replacing the darkness that had trapped her was a sheet of light blue and sunlight. "ooohh…" yet another groan escaped her, as she shifted her arms, one of them dragged through something dusty and hard while the other met resistance to something soft and itchy.

Moving her eyes to the left, she brought her hand to match her line of sight. Her unobscured view allowed her to see it run across a small rocky outcrop with dust and sandy residue on it as it settled down where she wanted, silently await her next command. Shifting her focus to the side, she saw that her arm was entrenched in green grass that was prickling the exposed under-half of her arm and shoulder.

Balling her hands into fists, she brought them in close to her sides and used them as anchor to push her upper body off the ground. As she sat herself up, happily noting her legs were still there, the captain looked upwards and once again saw the eternal streak of blue that she now recognized as the sky. "What am I doing here?" she whispered, 'I was in my bathroom a moment ago.'

Another gust of wind blew across her body ruffling her hair, but what caught her attention was the same rustling sound from earlier echoed again, this time in a loud but distant chorus. Her curiosity piqued, she slowly got to her feet and walked to the visible edge not too far from her, where she was sure the echoing sound must have emanated from.

When she reached the edge of the land, her eyes nearly popped out her head, as she fell on her butt in fear. "W-w-w-" she stuttered,

"WHERE THE HELL AM IIIIII!?" her voice echoed over the plateau that dropped down to the ocean, whose waves crashed against the side of the cliff.

Soifon quickly backpedaled several steps with her hands, as she put as much distance as possible between her and certain death.

Now as much as her reputation suggested that she was a fearless Shinigami captain, who had come blow to blow with a Menos-Grande and lived, was one of the few practitioners of Hakudo who mastered the Shunko technique, and could exhibit a cold attitude that could put even the ice dragon Hyorinmaru to shame in terms of frigidness, all of which was true. There was only one thing that would put her in such a state of absolute terror that she would abandon all hope and forsake the mission.

Deep water (2).

The reason for her fear was both in part of her lack of certain skills and her training in assassination. The Soul Society lacked extremely large pools of water, where one could dive and swim freely, so she grew up having no idea how to keep her head above water, a necessity given her short stature of five feet even. This inability, coupled with the fact that she knew first-hand what it was like to be choked out via strangulation, left lasting childhood traumas.

In most situations, people would never know, since she'd be just fine approaching even wading into waist deep water, but once the water got to about her shoulders, you'd see it. Her eyes would glance down ever so nervously, the telltale signs of her heart quickening in anticipation, and rarely the chattering of teeth behind closed lips.

And now, from what she was seeing, the bounty of the ocean stretched on until sky met sea.

"Oh no." the terrified woman muttered to herself, as she got up on shaky knees.

Right now, this place was a prison to her and to make matters worse she wasn't sure if she was in a Gigai or not. To her knowledge, the plane of Soul Society did not have scenery like this, which meant she was in the human world. Sure, she was wearing her Onimitsukido gear, but she didn't feel any spiritual energy radiating off her body, which just further begged the question.

"Oh, my god." She whispered again, as she brought a hand over head to shield herself from the sun's rays and extend her vision.

From what she was seeing, there was good and bad news to her current situation. The Good news: There was a beach that had a forest in the center, which meant: if she could gather supplies, or better yet find inhabitants, she could escape. The Bad news: If that expanse of water actually was the ocean, and it wrapped around the other side of landmass, then that meant she was on an Island. An Island that was surrounded by water of drown-able depth in all direction, as far as she could see.

The woman slumped her shoulder, as she placed her hands on her hip. It was only then that she realized her Zanpaktou was not on her back. "Great." She whispered to herself. Here she was, stranded with no abilities outside of her hand-to-hand skills, which might not even be helpful, trying to find some way to escape this possible death trap from god knows where. "Juuuust great."

Another sigh escaped her lips, "Well, at least I'm properly dressed." She half-considered.

In most places, it would be fall turning to winter now, meaning bone-chillingly cold temperatures. However the warm sunny weather was working quite cooperatively with the nature of her outfit, which revealed copious amounts of skin and breathed quite well. The only downside about her Onimitsukido master uniform was that it was black, like most Shinigami attire, which meant that it would trap in extra heat around her chest, abdomen and legs. Still, if putting up with that slight discomfort meant the elements wouldn't be her enemy, then it was a small complaint that she could live with.

Seeing nothing more to see in her current direction, the woman turned around and was surprised at her luck at discovering a medium two-story cottage, which sat a little ways further up the cliff.

"Huh, I guess people live all the way out here." She mused thoughtfully.

Glancing back to her side, she had to admit that it was a spectacular view of the seaside and nearby beach from up here; she could only imagine what it looked like at sunset with low hanging clouds or at night when the stars were out, perhaps that was the reason for choosing to live so secluded.

Putting the scenic vacation thoughts on the backburner, the captain turned back to her objective and began her trudge up to the door. She would need to refocus her thoughts on her first steps to getting out of here: Acquire her location.

Coming up to the wooden door, she tapped her knuckles against the frame, however when her hand made contact, no noise was emitted. While puzzled by the phenomena she never the less tried a second time, only to get reconfirming results. The woman lightly bit her lip, 'Well, so much for politeness.' She thought to herself, as she gripped the doorknob. Turning the metal knob, she tried to pull the door open only for it to rumble in place. "Are you kidding?" she cursed to herself as she considered her options.

On the one hand, she could try her luck and explore the island below in the hopes of finding humanity, or she could try to rip the door off its hinges with her strength and pray that there was a map of some kind and the owners weren't home.

Looking behind her to the downward path that lead into the opening of the forest, Soifon scanned her eyes over the tree line for a few seconds. 'No, I don't see a village and I don't know if there are any hazardous wildlife to be aware of.' She reconsidered as she turned back to the door in front of her. 'Even if I piss off the inhabitants at least I can talk to them without them trying to kill me.'

Twisting her arms to loosen them up, the woman reaffirmed her grip on the knob, and once she turned it to the side again, she summoned all her strength and pushed herself back. The door creaked loudly as it hit the end of its frame, pulled forwards with unimaginable force. However, just as before, it refused to budge under the captain's strength.

Gritting her teeth, Shaolin tugged again, but all she got was another weaker creaking against the doorframe. "Rrggh, damn it!" the ninja cursed, as she let go of the knob. The woman backed away from the door, a scowl adorning her lips.

Moving her gaze away from the door, she saw the wall of the building run about fifteen-twenty feet, before smoothing out into a corner. "Alright, new plan." She said, as she started to walk along the wall. If this place really was a home for someone to live in, then there had to be a nearby window. Turning around the corner, she smirked when found a small circular one.

Peering into the inside of the house, she saw directly on the other side of the wall seemed to be the kitchen, as a sink was just below the window and a lots of cabinets lined the surrounding vicinity. Across from the kitchen was a large circular wooden table with about eight wooden chairs and two bar stools, the centerpiece was a golden crown. Shaolin considered it must have been the dining room. Looking to the left of the table, past the counter top, there was another room with a long black couch that partial obscured the TV in front of it.

'Hmm…at least people do live here.' she thought to herself, as she leaned more to her right to see what else was inside.

Just beside the kitchen was a set of stairs that obviously went up to the second floor of the building, there was also a door barely visible, on the far wall of the staircase. 'But where are the people?' the assassin thought to herself.

Readjusting her sights, the woman saw on the other side of the house there were two more portholes for her to look through, one behind the TV in the couch room and one by the table at the dining room. Smiling to herself, she backed away from her peek hole. Perhaps from a different vantage point she could get someone's attention.

Walking back around to the front, the woman got about half way to the other side when she was forced to jump back to avoid the door that suddenly opened.

The woman's body was tense as she landed back on the grass, her eyes darting straight ahead as someone wearing a sky-blue sundress exited the home. The person's wooden sandals clacked against the dirt as the person extended their bronze-skinned hand to close the door, while they adjusted their straw harvester's hat.

Despite only having seen the person's back, she could tell that the person exiting the abode was a woman, because of her long dark knee length hair and choice in attire. The mysterious woman was about her own height, maybe just a smidge taller, and her visible skin was quite tan; although, that was probably because of where she lived, which had an abundance of sunlight.

Shaolin stared at the woman, as she pulled down on the brim of her hat and started walking away from her. Back in the direction the captain had come from.

Finding her voice, the stunned captain called out to her. "Excuse me, Miss!" she hailed as her arm reached forward in front of her, as if willing the other woman to turn around. When no answer was given, she tried again. "Hey you, halt!" This time she called much louder, and to her irritation, she still received no answer, leaving her to conclude: either the woman was deaf or she was purposely ignoring her.

While she would give the benefit of a doubt to the former, due to the seemingly isolate location of her home, the combination of her being in dire-straits and annoyed at lack of headway made it easier for her to believe the latter alternative.

"Enough of this." She huffed hotly, as she stormed around the strolling woman, ready to give her a piece of her mind. Cutting off her path, Shaolin quickly turned on her heels to face her, mouth open to speak…but no sound came out of her mouth, as she stared into the face of other woman.

After a few seconds, a dull croaking sound escaped from her throat as the once strolling woman stopped walking, and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Ma…me?" Shaolin croaked out as her longhaired duplicate, scanned the nearby area, skipping over her completely, and only stopping when her eyes fell on the distant sea.

"Huh?" the sundress-wearing girl muttered, "Could have sworn…" she momentarily fell silent, before shrugging it off. "Must have been my imagination."

The woman then resumed walking, passing straight through the stunned captain's body, briefly pausing to suppress a strange shudder than ran down her spine.

For the real Soifon, she turned back around to the strolling woman, confusion and disbelief etched on her face, as she tried to put together what had just happened, what she just saw. "She…I…" she looked at her hand and opened and closed it a few times, reaffirming to herself that it was solid, before looking back up. "What…what the hell is going on?"

Her question only received discomforting silence as the answer. 'She didn't see me, but I was standing right in front of her? And why does she look like me?' she paused, as she tried to think back on her situation. 'Did Aizen do something to me? If this was an illusion by Kyoka Suigetsu then why make it so obvious?' a chill ran down her spine, as she thought, 'Maybe it was so obvious, because he changed everything I perceive.'

She considered the option, which if it was true, meant that since she hadn't moved too far from her original position, the bathroom, in fact she might still be in her room or at the very least in her barracks. That wasn't a bad thing, but it still left her under his control. A dissatisfied grunt escaped her lips, perhaps if she quickly broke the illusion she could regain control of her senses, before he commanded her to do something damaging to Soul Society.

"He's never tried anything like this before, so I better keep my guard up and get out of here now." She reminded herself, as her eyes went back to her only clue, the other 'her', who was waiting patiently several meters ahead of her. "I only hope following her can help me break this illusion."

With a plan set, the woman quietly caught back up to her body double, who was busy looking skyward. Approaching the distracted woman, Soifon's curiosity got the better of her, as she walked around the side of her to get a better look at this older her.

Staring into the face, she saw very little difference between them. The other woman had the same grey eyes as her, though notably softer indicating she seemed to be at peace with herself. Her lips were a shade pinker than her own and seemed to shimmer in the light for some indiscernible reason, Soifon could only suppose it had something to do with the increased sun, as her skin was no longer pale and cold, but a beautiful healthy bronze and her chest was noticeably bigger than her own.

Eyes darting to her right, she noticed the other apparent difference aside from this other her's strange clothing, that long, free flowing, navy blue hair.

While Soifon herself did have long hair, though not nearly as long as this girl's, aside from taking a shower or soaking in hot springs she hardly ever let it down, especially out in the open. She'd been trained for the longest time to always be prepared for a battle against Hollows; that was reason number one why she kept her long strands bound in the wrapping paper, unless she knew for certainty that the area was safe.

Which brought her to her next conundrum: Her choice in equipment.

The blue one-piece sundress, sandals, and straw hat were in the Shaolin's mind tactically sound choices, as they obviously were for protection against the climates extreme heat and for blending in more easily with humans. No, her problem stemmed from the fact it was completely impractical AND unnecessary.

Forgetting the fact that she didn't have any discernable way to get into her Shinigami form, she had no pockets which to hold any important items she might need, like a communicator, or a phone, or keys to a door. Nothing. Just a smooth shimmering blue cloak wrapped around her body. Which speaking of was a poor choice to try and perform hand to hand combat in, since it offered very little in the ways of protection, unlike her Master Onimitsukido uniform, which could be reinforced and used in tandem with Shunko.

Plus, the whole reason for stealth and blending in with humans, would be a very odd decision to say the least. In her Shinigami form, she had both the strength of a captain and was completely invisible to the average person. But, if that alone wasn't the problem, next came in the fact that suppose she WAS in Shinigami form. This 'her' wasn't carrying her Zanpaktou with her, limiting her battle potential considerably, since it sealed her power and there was only so much she could move around in a dress.

Yet, despite all of this, the woman before her didn't seem to have a care in the world aside from cloud watching apparently. "I don't get it…" the truly perplexed woman muttered, "Has she any sense of self-preservation? Better yet, why would Aizen make such a flawed representation? I don't normally look like that."

"Where are they?" the woman in question asked herself, as she continued to scan the horizon for someone. A hum escaped her lips as she swiveled her gaze back around. "Ah," a please smile emerged, "there they are."

"They?" the ninja muttered confusedly, 'She's waiting on people from the sky?' Looking up in the direction the other girl was facing, she scanned the clear skies looking for what she had spot. 'Is she waiting for other Shinigami?'

It wasn't long before she spotted the person the other her had been seeking.

Descending from the sky, carrying some strange long tombstone like objects with two different color towels draped over the ends, was an equally tan woman with dark hair and white wings spanning her arm-length. Her body was shimmering in the light from the water particles on her skin and she was almost completely exposed to the sun, save for the white towel hanging around her neck, the dark red bra encompassing her D cups, and equally red panties protecting her modesty.

Although in Soifon's opinion, the small clothing wasn't covering anywhere near enough, as the assassin forced her eyes to look somewhere else, an embarrassed flush on her face. It was one thing to be dressed for the weather like herself and…not herself, but it was another thing entirely when you freely chose to walk around in public with your ass hanging out, giving a free peep show to any passerby willing to look.

Some people just had no sense of common decency.

Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she returned her gaze back at the descended woman, who landed a few feet away from the pair. The mysterious woman smiled brightly as she waved, before walking over to them, her sandals clomping against the dirt.

That was when she saw what was behind the woman.

Two little girls hoping off a floating golden staff.

The taller of the two girls had bright orange dome shaped hair that ended in black tips.

She was wearing a modest one-piece swimsuit that had a cartoony design wrapping around the side to the front of a penguin enjoying a blue Popsicle. Her expression while trying to remain reserved had the faintest hints of a smile, as she extended her hand to the smaller girl, helping her to get off without injury.

The probably younger girl had pure black locks of hair and a big infectious grin on her face that seemed to lighten anyone's mood. She was wearing a cute two-piece swimsuit with numerous red flowery prints. She took the other girl's hand and disembarked the staff that Shaolin immediately recognized.

"That's…" she whispered knowingly, as her eyes went back to the approaching woman, realization dawning on her. "Senna!?" she asked, as the wings sprouting from this older Senna's back disappeared, as she hugged the other her.

Turning the surfboards up, Senna planted it in the ground. "Sorry about being late." She apologized, as she wiped the seawater from her face with her neck towel, being careful not to knock off the pink flower situated in her hair.

The other 'Soifon' huffed playfully, "You almost had me worried. Dinner's ready."

The taller woman nodded agreeably, while the two smaller girls approached the conversing women. The taller of the two children walked forward, her expression stoic and fierce, as if trying to appear brave and unaffected to the other 'her'. "Mother." The brown-eyed girl spoke with instilled obedience.

Shaolin's eyes nearly exploded out of her head at what the little girl had called the other her. An act confirming that what she said was true was demonstrated when the other 'her' leaned down and stroked the girl's round orange hair lovingly.

"Hey Yuna," she greeted softly, a contented look in her eyes. "Did you and your cousin have fun at the beach?" she asked, as her eyes moved to the other little girl with dark hair, who was cutely clinging behind the surfing mother's leg.

The stoic child nodded slowly, "Yes, Mother." She looked back at her cousin, who skipped over and hugged 'Soifon', her shyness quick to fade.

"Yeah, we had tons of fun!" the girl gushed, a stark contrast to the other girl's self-control.

"Oh, really?" she asked, interest piqued. "What did you do?"

The smaller girl went starry eyed at being asked the mother of all question. Really what didn't they do? "We, we, we built this HUUUGE sand castle with mommy, like really huge. It was, umm…" the girl held her arms out as far as she could stretch them. "Thiiiis big!" the motor mouth shouted

As the real Soifon looked on stunned but attentive, the duplicate her smirked in the same way that she did, when things went her way. "Wow, that big?" she baited, before letting out a small-annoyed tsk. "Darn, I wish I could have been there. I can't believe I missed you two becoming princesses of the beach. So what else?"

"We surfed." Yuna piped up next.

"Oh yeah, you should of saw." The other little girl exclaimed, as she pointed at Senna. "While we were riding the waves with Momma, a shark's fin popped out of the water and started circling us. The shark was like 'Oh, omnomnom, I'm gonna eatcha!' and it scared me and Yuna-"

"I wasn't scared." Yuna interrupted quickly, "You were the one screaming her head off, saying: 'It's over! We're all gonna die'." Yuna corrected, as she had nearly gone deaf at the volume her cousin's voice could reach, before her mother silenced her.

The cousin stuck her tongue out defiantly, before returning to the story. "So like I was saying, we were scared-"

"I wasn't-" the other girl started up again, much to her mother's amusement.

"Fine! I was scared, killjoy." the girl corrected, hoping to put an end to the interruption. It was her story damn it. "But anyway momma, momma wasn't scared. She just slid off her board and dove under the water. And do you know what she did next?"

The girl's captive audience shook her head, amusement written on her face. "No, what happened next?" she asked, the young storyteller.

"When it came close she just released her spiritual energy and glared at it, like 'oh yeah, come on you dummy fishy. I'll punch you like pow! And you'll be all like oww, no stop!' And then the fish was like 'oh no, don't hurt me, Mrs. Momma. I'm sorrriiiee!' And then he turned around superfast and swam away, it was awesome!" the girl explained, before exploding into laughter at the adventure. The other girl's joined too.

While the two children were still wrapped up in there post adventure chuckle. Shaolin looked over at Senna appreciatively. "So, is that what happened?"

"Err…yeah." Senna smiled wryly, as she twisted her sandal into the dirt embarrassed. "Don't worry about it. We didn't hang around the area for too long. Didn't want to press our luck with another hungry Mako."

Soifon agreed with her decision to err on the side of caution. "Still, I'm glad you're okay though."

"Yeah, well, we all can't be sea monster scaring terrors like you and Ichigo." The chipper woman replied.

The smirk on Soifon's face grew, "And what's that supposed to mean?" she inquired of the challenge.

"Nothing, Ms. Leviathan-emasculator." The woman held up her hands trying to placate her. 'To think for a long time you didn't know how to swim till me and Ichigo taught you how.' She quietly thought to herself as she turned her attention to one of the girls. "Hey, Yuna-chan," she called, causing the girl to spare a glance at her. "Why don't you tell her what else we did at the beach today?"

The small girl turned back around and thought about what else they had done. She was silently pensive until a frown came at remembering what she had done.

Having been taught to always tell the truth to her parents, she bowed her head in penitence as she spoke. "I'm sorry Mother," She said with audible regret. "but I…I used what you taught me to hurt someone."

"To hurt someone?" both Soifon's replied, the real one confused while the fake one was slowly shifting in attitude. Getting up from off her knees, she stood up to her full height of five feet and stared down the child. "Yuna Xing Kurosaki, what happened?" She commanded authoritatively, as her eyes glared fiercely at the girl, daring her to try to hide any of her misdoings.

The girl bearing her deceased grandmother's name bowed her head, eyes locked at her feet. During these types of discussions, this was the only moment the parent's gave to the girls, to consciously decide what she was going to tell her them.

Either own up to the facts and tell the whole truth, which might get a scolding or spanking, depending on what they did. Or she could press her luck against the human lie detectors and try to hide something, which if she succeeded let her off the hook scot-free, but came at the risk of the adults finding out the real truth, which, if discovered, ran a punishment far, far, harsher than a spiritually empowered spanking from Mother and/or Father.

With schooled discipline, she raised her gaze to meet her expectant mother; although, from the second Soifon's perspective it looked like she was giving her a defiant death glare, rather than coming to give her a serious answer. "When we were at the beach, a boy came up to Masaki." Yuna started from the beginning.

"A boy?" she questioned, that told her to keep going.

"Mmmhmm, I don't really know him, except he went to our school. He said something." she glanced over her shoulder towards her silent cousin.

Despite being a social butterfly and motor mouth, she was very easily frightened, especially when someone might be angry with her. The adults around her more so, since they tended to show no mercy to whatever villager that ticked them off enough to resort to violence.

"It made her unhappy." She explained

"Unhappy?" she repeated, as she looked over to a nervous Masaki, who slowly nodded her head, obviously worried that she might get mad and scold them both, before taking away privileges when she caught wind of the girls wrong doing.

"Where were you?" she asked, the question obviously directed at Senna.

The woman tilted the surfboard for indication. "I was getting the boards and packing up, so that we could get ready to leave. I didn't see it till it was all over and by then he was already running back across the dunes."

After hearing that troubling tidbit, the ex-assassin stony face grew starker. "What did she do?" she demanded near emotionlessly.

Having spent many years around the woman, she knew that despite becoming a mother and awakening her maternal instincts, she did have shades of her old commander-subordinate mindset from her days as a Taicho and leader. While it didn't affect her relationship to other adult, the catalyst for the reaction was unfortunately the girls themselves. Their understandable dependency on adults was similar to a low ranked Shinigami looking to the higher ups for guidance.

Therefore, Senna understood and knew what she had to do, in the rare instance the older woman relapsed to her old ingrained mindset. A small nudging reminder from her loved ones was all it took to help keep Shaolin's mind in true prospective of the situation and the actual people involved.

"Don't be mad, she was crying earlier." She tried to assuage, since her daughter did it with the best of intentions.

True to expectation, Soifon's eyes imperceptibly flitted over to the young swimmer, who was doing her best to seem as neutral as possible. But she couldn't fool the captain, who saw Yuna's fists lightly clenched at her side trying to hold in her fear and guilt.

The mother let out a sigh and eased up on her glare, "Go on." She said in a low hushed tone. It was a tone reserved for when she realized that she might have acted a bit hasty in her judgment and was now ready to listen to another's suggestion.

Senna smiled briefly happy that she took her advice, before she grew serious. "Apparently, the boy was teasing Masaki, because he and his family think I do evil witchcraft," she informed, while Shaolin let out a low grunt, it wasn't the first time they received such an accusation, but she didn't expect it from a kid towards one of the children.

"So he called her a…well…" the girl closed her eyes and thought on the words. She didn't want it repeated again, for fear that they'd learn what it meant or upset them further. "He called her a Guówài zhòumà niángmen (foreign cursed bitch), that's what upset Masaki."

"I understand." Both Soifon's said albeit with varying levels of contempt.

"Yuna saw her and the boy, so she told him to stop teasing her and to go away. He then started to make fun of her, but she took it without saying a word." A deprecating smile flitted across her lips, "But that all changed when he called her the P-word."

"P-word?" the outsider to the conversation muttered to herself, while her counterpart let out a knowing grunt.

She would soon learn the dreaded word when the child let it out somberly. "P-pumpkin head…" she said, as she grabbed a lock of her orange and black tipped hair, disappointment in her eyes.

The captain sweat dropped. This girl, her daughter, was apparently willing to take all kinds of verbal abuse, but the moment some boy makes fun of her hair, she snaps? Her eyes went down to her stomach, where the unborn Yuna dwelled. "Does this mean I'm going to be a bad mother?" she asked herself, her question stemming from the strange mix in priorities.

The mother 'her' sighed to herself, easing up the tension on the situation, before dropping back to her knees, to be eye level with the girl.

She knew that Yuna was very proud of her heritage, of who her father and mother were, but the color of her hair that proved who she belong to also made her stick out and were a constant source of teasing. Whenever she got teased about it, she took it personally, viewing it as an attack aimed not only at her pride, but on how she viewed herself on being able to fit in, which was the reason why she lashed out against others. "Look, pumpkin. You hit him right?" she asked, using the affectionate name that got morphed by others into an insult.

"I knocked him down after punching him in the eye, Mother." She clarified, which earned her another sigh from the woman. The girl squirmed uneasily, since that was a nonverbal sign that told her she wasn't helping her case.

'Soifon' rubbed her temples to throttle her temper. After spending a moment to think over her words, she said, "Look, you did it for your baby cousin, right?" She surmised her intent.

The girl nodded, since that was what had started the situation. To her surprise, instead of a cold promise of spanking and talk with father later, the six-and-half year old received a soft pat on the top of her head and a serene smile. "That's okay then. You were just trying to protect Ma-chan, so I'm not mad at you. In fact, your father and I are proud that you stood up for her, but next time don't resort to violence so quickly. Got it, pumpkin?"

Yuna stared intensely into her mother's face, no emotion aside from cold control. Although, after having her hair ruffled by her mother's fingers for a bit, a blush crept across her cheeks, despite Yuna maintaining her serious disposition for a prospective ninja. "Thank-you, Mother." She replied reverently, appeased with her fair merciful judgment. "I won't fail you or father's expectations of me again." She promised as she bowed her head.

"What the?" the viewing Shaolin muttered to herself, confused by the shift in attitude.

This other her was condoning her for hurting someone else, over such a slight? Granted, she could understand the circumstances behind it, having seen how Ichigo occasionally acted protective around Senna, but…she had expected the older her to scold the child, at the very least tell her to continue to shrug it off and walk away with Masaki…

It's what she would have done.

'Yet.' The woman thought to herself as she bit her lip, still observing the interaction. Looking into her twin's face, all that was radiating off her was pure love towards the girl, who she was all too willing to discipline and reprimand.

Her heart clenched tightly at the thought of raising her hand and slapping the girl for her behavior.

In her family, the way she had been raised, strength and obedience meant everything, the strong would survive and the obedient would bring glory and honor. Therefore, corporal punishment was not only a standard practice, during every Fon-assassin's days of field training with the masters, but it was actively encouraged, as a means to instill discipline and reassert one's authority over unruly subordinates.

A practice she had happily implemented during ninety-five percent of her tenure as a Taicho of the Gotei 13.

So, for the captain, she didn't know what to think. It…it sounded right in her head, but for some reason her conscience, her heart told her otherwise. 'Will I change when I'm a mother?' she asked herself, still puzzled by this different style of upbringing this other her demonstrated.

The other 'her' seemed to remind her of how Ichigo described his mother, kind, occasionally stern, but always fair. 'Maybe, my outlook on life isn't the only thing those two have changed.' She silently thought, as she absentmindedly rubbed her stomach.

Sweat dropping at the subtle implication, Senna spoke up, breaking the touching Mother-Daughter heart-to-heart. "I wonder what the parents of the kids who attend your dojo would think, if they found out your daughter hurt someone with her bare hands." She playfully wondered aloud, attempting to lighten the mood.

'Shaolin' huffed confidently, as she stood back up, her tone brimming with pride. "Simple. I would get more students, since the parents will obviously see my martial arts classes do provide children with mean of self-defense."

The older Miko sighed defeatedly, "Like Mother, like Daughter. The Tsundere bloodline continues."

Although, she tried not to let the playful nickname get to her, 'Soifon' still couldn't help but feel like she spoke just a bit more defensive. "A-and what is that supposed to mean?" she challenged.

The longhaired woman shrugged, feigning indifference. "I'm just saying Yuna-chan takes a lot after her parents. She constantly shifts between your cold serious yet awkward self and her dad's fiery protective leader self."

The girl's mother brought her thumb to her lip, as she considered the accuracy in the woman's insight. "Well…I suppose you have a point. She did inherit more than her father's hair." She then looked at her product of love, who was trying to suppress her smile at the mention of Ichigo. Apparently, Yuna was doing her best to emulate the cool confident assassin, her mother had once been.

An assassin that did not have room for smiles, cookies, penguins, booboo kisses, story time and affectionate nicknames.

The mother thought it was adorable, the dissimilarities the girl tried to overcome to win her approval. Approval she would freely give. "I've noticed that you've been training more with your father lately, my precious Yuna."

The girl, despite her best attempt at suppression, smiled contently as she spoke. "Yeah, he teaches me Jujitsu when he has the time. He says that your way of fighting, Hakudo, isn't really meant to protect someone, but to hurt someone."

"Oh, I see." Soifon's eyelids dropped into a glare at Yuna's words, while Senna let out a low 'oooh', at Ichigo's perceived fighting words. "I'll be sure to have a talk with your father later on." She stated coldly, trying to keep her temper in check. Her eyes swiveled over to Senna, who was trying to stifle her laughter.

"And why are you laughing?" she snapped, a twisted smirk reappearing on her lips. "Aren't you the local shaman? Should you really be playing around at the beach or wasting your time on those videogames during the day, when you almost always have a line of people at your shrine desiring your services?"

"Trying to turn the subject on me? I laugh at your attempt, ha!" she loudly declared, "Shaolin, I'll have you know, that at the fine age of twenty-five, I am firmly on top of my duties. I also just so happen to like taking the odd break here and there, I'm not a workaholic."

Shaolin rolled her eyes and scoffed, "You seem to do it more frequently lately; perhaps, you're a 'lazaholic'."

"Ha-ha, very funny." The younger adult placed her hands on her hips annoyed. "I always fulfill a quota. That way I don't feel guilty for closing up shop early to spend time with my family." She then shrugged, "Besides, the request for me to use my 'demon magic' to heal the injured will still be there tomorrow."

Back on the outside of the conversation, the real Shaolin was confused again. 'Demon magic? She doesn't mean…'

Her horror came to fruition when the other 'her' just nodded her head knowingly. "Well, your healing kido (3) does work and you charge far less than any hospital or doctor." She commented freely.

This sentiment was not mutual.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" The invisible captain screamed aloud, nearly having a heart attack at the revelation. It was bad enough that Senna was using unauthorized healing kido to heal living humans, but for the other her to not only be okay with it, but allow it, that was conduct unbecoming of a Taicho.

"Soul Society would kill us for such blatant misuse of our power." She panicked, her words reaching no one but herself. "We're not supposed to do it for profit and were definitely not sup-"

That was when a thought occurred to her. Senna had just mentioned her age to have been '25'. That was seven years older than the Senna she knew, and both girls had shown no regard for Soul Society, did that perhaps mean…that Soul Society was no more.

A chill ran down her spine at the implication.

Had Aizen won?

Had they turned to helping humans find relief as a way for atoning for their failure to save them?

Were the two of them so unconcerned, so unassuming, simply because they gave up? That they knew the end of days would soon be upon them and that they could do no more than enjoy what little time they had left before oblivion took them?

"No…" she muttered to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. "They mentioned Ichigo. He must still be alive. This…this isn't real." The woman closed her eyes and took in a few calming breathes. When she opened her eyes again, the four females were still chatting amongst themselves. "Don't lose sight." She told herself as she re-listened in on the conversation.

"Yeah, though, I wish all those worldly travelers and News crew looking for a scoop would just stop harassing me. They're always either trying to pay me off, so that I'd share my 'secret shaman healing abilities' to the world, or interrupting me when I'm doing my job at the shrine." A disgusted groan escaped as she remembered one man in particular.

"But they don't compare to Javier. He just doesn't know when to quit. He's always following me around with that stupid camera of his, through the village, around the shrine, everywhere. It's like I have my own stalker."

Soifon frowned, "Have you told Ichigo?" The concerned older woman asked her junior. "Or would you rather that I bring it up to him?"

The woman shook her head, "No, no. I'll do it. Just maybe later. Thanks though." The beautiful woman sighed again, her honey hued eyes closing halfway, reflecting her pensiveness. "Anyway, long story short, I do get there are some people who really want to help the world with kido, but most just want to use it as a get rich quick scheme. Not that they can actually use it."

"Well," Soifon started, as she extended her hand to the visible landmass below the cliff. "we are lucky that most of the people of this land are very superstitious. They protect and keep our identities secret from outsiders and leave us in peace for the most part, since they seem to be able to sense our spiritual energy radiating from our home."

"That's true. Nobody bothers us up here, only in the village." Senna conceded as she moved a handful of wet hair strands from her cheek. She was going to continue, before a thought occurred to her. "Hey, I just remembered you were poking fun of me about playing videogames."

Soifon tilted her hat back as her eyebrow raised, "What of it? They're designed for little children to play." She lowered her hand towards the two little girls beside them. "Or have you forgotten the purpose behind it."

The Miko stared dully at her. "Uhuh, so, then, remind me again, which one of us was up late last night, playing assassins creed 6, constantly muttering to herself 'I've got time for one more mission.'?" she placed her index finger against her forehead, pretending to think hard, before eventually pointing it at the blushing captain. "I…I think that was you, wasn't it?"

"That…I…you!" she stuttered over her words, while the two little ones snickered, as it was rare moment when Mother was actually at a loss for words, it only seemed to frequently happen around Father or Aunty Yoruichi.

After sputtering for a second, she regained her composure and tried to explain herself. "First of all Senna, I was not 'playing' that game. Playing insinuates that it was done under the pretense of frivolously messing around with no thought of consequences."

The woman shook her head resolutely, "No, what I was doing was a virtual simulation of assassination techniques that I could try out in a safe environment. A different perhaps even advanced form of visualization training, if you would."

"Oh!? Really? That's what you were doing? And that's the story you're gonna stick with?" the surprised woman chuckled at her eloquent but flimsy justification.

"Yes! I can't exactly go trying out my theories in battle without some kind of ground concept. THAT is what I was doing. As I said, it's training, not messing around." She argued, crossing her arms over her chest, almost daring her to challenge her words.

"And the one more mission thing?" Senna threw at her offhandedly.

The woman closed her eyes, "Simulation of different scenarios, obviously." She answered perfectly.

"Wow…" Senna breathed out, the sound of disbelief echoing in the word.

'That's one way of putting it.' The third adult deadpanned to herself, rather surprised by how childish, or was it carefree, she wasn't sure which word best described, future her had become.

From beside her cousin, Masaki heard the gurgling of her tummy. Agreeing with the noise, she walked over and pulled light on her mother's arm to get her attention. "Momma, I'm hungry."

Looking down at her daughter, she lovingly stroked the girl's cheek. "Oh I'm sorry about that sweetie." She apologized; she hadn't meant to get so wrapped up talking with Shaolin. "Tell you what, why don't you two go on ahead while the big girls talk, okay?"

She then looked over to Yuna, "Yuna-chan, can you do me a big favor?"

"Of course."

Senna smiled at her enthusiasm. "The both of you need to wash off the seawater first and then change clothes before you can eat. Yuna, can you make sure this happen for me?

"Yes, of course." The assassin's offspring said, willing to undertake the mission.

"YES! Foooood!" Masaki hollered, as she ran towards the house. "Race you, Yuyu-chan!" she yelled back at her startled competition.

"Wha-? Hey, CHEATER, CHEEATEEERR!" the girl yelled, as she ran after the girl, her age finally catching up with her.

The two mothers laughed merrily at the children's antics. It was yet another sign that life, while substantially more peaceful, was anything but dull, and for one of them, it was a sad reminder that it all could have changed in an instant. "Life really is precious." Senna said, as she gazed sadly in the direction of the two girls. "I'm really lucky to be able to watch her grow up."

That statement caught the attention of both Soifon, who shifted their attention to the young mother, her hands softly placed over her heart. While it was confusing to the real Soifon, the action seemed to have some significance as the other her grimaced. "If it wasn't for Yoruichi konsoing me to the fourth division barracks, I would have died seven years ago after getting my heart pierced."

A dry sardonic chuckle escaped her lips, "Of course, even after getting my condition stabilized, the post healing rehabilitation cost me my previous life amongst the humans in Karakura."

'What Senna almost died?' Shaolin thought to herself, surprised by the revelation. "That…" her words died in her throat, as she felt her arm start to shake with fear.

While she had absolutely no clue as to what this whole thing was, a strange flinging into the future or elaborate scheme by Aizen, it was most definitely a sign that things were going to get ugly.

"Senna…" she whispered, she was about to say something when she stopped herself, remembering that neither of them could apparently hear her.

To her pleasant surprise, her weird irresponsible-self showed her compassionate side, as she walked over and wrapped her arms around the taller woman, her forehead pressed against the woman's large chest.

"Senna," she whispered calmly, face concealed by her hat. "We all could have died that day." She tilted her head back, grey eyes meeting amber. "But we didn't. We persevered."

The other Shaolin took a step back and extended her hand towards the home near the end of the cliff, where the children were entering the cottage. "Masaki is wide-eyed and spirited. If my daughter takes after me, then she certainly takes after you."

A bright kind smile emerged on the ex-assassin's lips, giving credence to her words. "We all made a lot of sacrifices to get where we are, let's give them the life we never had, so that they can grow up in a better world."

The older Senna was at a loss of words for what her lifelong sempai told her. Soon enough, the truth in her words melted away the concerns on her mind. 'What ifs' and 'What could've', just caused needless worry, especially when the outcomes had turned out as bright as it had. "You're right, thanks for that." She said with her usual radiant smile. "I love you, Shaolin."

The Chinese woman huffed playfully at her infectious enthusiasm; it was one of her most endearing trait. "I love you too, Senna." She replied, before she leaned in and pressed her lips against the taller woman.

The third party watching the scene unfold quickly went scarlet in the face. Her eyes darted towards her sandals when both girls started to wrap their arms around each other's waist deepening the kiss, letting out a few seductive moans.

The two women exchanged a few more pleasure-filled kisses, before Shaolin pulled away, her eyes tender and loving. "Come on, sister." She cooed with a soft humor in her tone. "Let's go back, before those two drive Ichigo insane."

Senna giggled as she licked her lips, savoring the taste of the honeybee. Running her tongue across her lips once more, she reached out and clasped the woman's hand, her fingers interlocking with her equal. "Okay, big sis (4)." The Vizard replied with a small play on words, that wasn't lost on either Shaolin.

The two women then slowly turned and walked in the direction of the home, both continuing their conversation, unaware of their stalker. "Tell me, Senna," she started, about to ask one of few questions that had begun to weigh more heavily on her mind, as of late. "when exactly do you think would be a good time to tell the girls about…us?" She requested

Senna's mouth whipped from side to side. She knew this discussion would be brought up, she knew almost as soon as she found out she was pregnant.

"Masaki is only five, so I doubt she'd understand, and even though Yuna is really mature for her age, I think it might confuse her too." She replied matter-of-factly.

Shaolin's eyes darted to the corner, "True, but we are going to have to come out eventually. They need to know the whole truth, and I don't just mean the truth about them being half-sisters as well as cousins. I mean the truth about our family, our polygamous relationship, about you and Ichigo's familiar relationship."

She paused trying to find the words that would convey her meaning. "I just…I don't want to confuse them when they get older, about who they are, or the happiness they can pursue, or what we'll think of them." She glanced at her lover softly. "And it's only a matter of time, before they accidentally catch us kissing one another and not their father. I just think we should be prepared for it."

"Well, yeah, I guess I see what you mean. Personally, I don't think we should force the subject, but you have a point. It couldn't hurt to have a sit down discussion with Ichigo later tonight when the girls are asleep. An ounce of prevention an all that." The shaman conceded, before turning the topic in a different direction. "Speaking of Ichigo and the girl's futures, have you two come to an agreement yet on Yuna's Shinigami training? I wanna know so I can follow suit."

"We're going to wait till she's at least fifteen, before we even consider trying to push her past the Asauchi state, although she has stated to have met her Zanpaktou, apparently a graceful woman who overheard and agrees with our concerns." She looked back at her partner "What of Masaki?"

"Ehhh, well she met her spirit too. His name is Sun Wukong; he's a monkey that rides on a cloud."

Shaolin's eyes nearly jumped out of her sockets. "She heard her Zanpaktou's name!? At her age!?"

"Errr…kinda." Senna bit her lip, "He said that Sun Wukong wasn't his Zanpaktou name, but one of his titles. Ma-chan described his as playful if mischievous guy…I looked him up on the internet and well…" she sweat dropped, "Let's just say she going to be a handful growing up."

While thoroughly confused, Shaolin decided to let it go. "Any word on her inner Hollow?" She changed the subject.

Senna pressed a finger against her lips, "Mmm, Masaki met her. She pouted when she told me the other her thought she was annoying and sickeningly sweet." The girl sighed. That was another problem that would rear its ugly head once the girls grew up.

Hopefully, they'd be more like Ichigo's then her own. "I haven't fully told her about the situation, but she knows I only want her to talk to her when Wukong is around. I don't trust her meeting her dark side on her own yet."

Yuna's mother nodded her head, after hearing of how the siblings Hollow's were like, it was very sound advice. "Yuna has also encountered her inner Hollow. Apparently, she has the mindset of a primitive hunter; she constantly stalks Yuna and builds traps."

A look of concern marred Senna's face, deeply reminded of her dark half. "It's stalking her…"

Shaolin tilted her head, her lips pressed to one side; it wasn't quite how she made it sound. "Not quite. She follows her, but not persistently. She keeps her distance. However, whenever Yuna approaches, she just ignores her presence, but she does listen to her when she talks." The woman scratched her head, since she didn't know how make head or tails of that situation. "I guess every inner Hollow has their own personality."

"Well…I guess it depends on your point of view. Ichigo told us his Hollow went from being antagonistic to friendly over his lifetime, whereas mine was mostly antagonistic…" she paused, "And very odd." She added with a sweat drop, which Soifon shared.

The captain had heard Senna's stories about her inner Hollow, as well as Mirokumaru's colorful comments about what she thought of her AND the rest of the SWA club, and what SHE would have done to each and every one of them, if not for Senna's impressive willpower.

The woman shook her head dismissively. "Either way, they can change, but it won't happen till there adults."

"And by then they will need to fight them." Shaolin finished, knowing how it would go. Either they would gain a new 'perfect' Vizard to 'defend the world' or the mothers and father would end up burying the children they loved with all their hearts.

As they reached the house, they decided to let the matter drop; it was a grim subject that didn't need to invade the happiest moments of their life.

Releasing her hand from Senna's, she gripped the door and opened it, stepping in tandem, allowing Senna to pass, who nodded appreciatively, before entering herself. The other Soifon, who was a few steps behind, quickly ran forward, trying to catch the door before it closed, to no avail, the lock clicking into place. "Damn it." She cursed, as the door once again wouldn't budge under her strength. Her mind quickly cycled through her options, before he remembered the window.

Without a seconds pause, she let the handle go and ran to the side of the house. As she peered through the circular hole, the woman caught sight of an older version of Ichigo, who was smiling at someone that seemed to be retreating up the stairwell. His body like the other two women was darker in complexion, but his bright orange hair and brown eyes still told her who he was.

Shaolin's quirked an eye brow in appreciation for this new him. His hair was slightly longer and he had small stubbles of hair on his chin indicating an incoming beard. Also like the other version of Senna and herself, he wasn't wearing the clothing of a Shinigami, instead he was wearing a white muscle shirt that was fitting tightly on his more muscular physique and tan cargo shorts that went to his knees.

Shaolin's felt her face heat up at seeing this very attractive version of her love, however she quickly squashed that train of thought with a shake of her. She had to refocus on why she was follow them in the first place. To find a way out of this world, not get frisky with how he might look in seven years.

Inside the home, the man heard the door opening, and turned his head in its direction, catching sight of the ladies who had stepped out earlier. "Yo! Welcome back." The man lifted his hand to greet them.

"Did our guest leave?" Soifon asked her husband, as she hung up her hat at the coat hanger rack near the door.

"He's in the room in the back. He'll join us later, once he's finished a few business calls." He informed, as he pointed behind him. His eyes then went over to Senna, who was neatly placing the boards against one of the walls. "Hey Sen." He said in a harder tone.

The girl perked up at the sound of her name. "Yeah, what's up?" she asked, eye brow quirked.

"You left your 'toys' laying around again." The man informed with mild annoyance.

The woman tilted her head confused. "Left my toy-OH!" it clicked to her as a heavy blush fell across her cheek.

"Yeah, 'oh' is right." He replied sardonically, barely able to resist rolling his eyes, while Shaolin smirked to herself. "You left them in the guest room, so I had to put your leather collar, 'kinky'-cuffs and 'Nine-tails' whip in the storage closet, before our guest arrived." His eyes zeroed in further on her form. "I didn't think I'd need to say it, but please, we really don't need any weirder rumors about our family." He overstated.

"S-sorry, Ichigo…goshujinsama." The ultra-M girl squeaked out, adding the goshujinsama under her breath, though Shaolin caught it and her smirk grew.

"You're such a masochist, it's almost sad." She huffed dismissively of her antics. "I hope Masaki never sees that side of you." She added with an air of nonchalance.

The Miko turned her head and glared at the petite woman for pouring salt on the wounds. "You sadist." She hissed.

The smirking woman shrugged "But I thought you liked it rough." She teased, leaving the Miko to gape at her.

Ding! Shaolin 1, Senna zip!

Ichigo turned his attention over to the smug woman and decided to level the playing field "Don't go getting cocky yourself Shaolin." He folded his arms in front of him. "I believe I already reprimanded you for your sexy costumes."

"Sexy costumes?" Senna said with a smirk, while the girl went quiet.

Ichigo saw the pleading look in his first wife's eyes. She pouted her lips, trying to curry favor with him, doing practically everything short of verbally begging him not to bring up that little secret in this discussion.

The man smiled to himself darkly before opening his mouth and continuing, getting an absolute charge with messing with both women. "Oh yeah, didn't she tell you? Or did she conveniently forget?" he looked over at an excited Senna while, Soifon's eyes filled with terror. "Ehehehe, let me tell you Senna-koi, you'd be surprised at what Shaolin-koi does when the kids aren't home."

Ding! Shaolin 1, Senna Zip, Ichigo 1!

He raised his fingers and started counting them off. "She's done the 'naked apron' when cooking complete with the standard lines, the 'extra sparring practice' in her karate gi, the one-piece swimsuit with her name on it, a much more erotic reenactment of our first date with the red Kimono that Unohana gave her, and she occasionally dresses up as a seductive maid when 'cleaning' the house."

Now it was the Chinese woman's turn to burn with embarrassment at having a secret exposed, while the other woman laughed mirthfully. "Oh really!?" Senna voice sang out, as she wrapped her arms around the smaller woman's frame.

"Does little Lin-chan want to escape her world for a bit, perhaps, experience all the different things she could have been in life?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet tone, only to pout. "Aww, I don't remember you doing any of that with me? Where's the looove?"

The smaller woman turned even brighter. "I…I…" she pursed her lips while her eyes darted to the corner. "I didn't want risk getting by caught by the kids." She admitted with a luminescent blush. "I'm sorry, my love."

Senna paused, her heart freezing in place at her confession. Her went starry as she squeezed the Chinese woman even harder "Ooooh, I forgot how cute you can be!" she then leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm falling in love all over again!"

Ding! Shaolin 1, Senna 1, Ichigo 1!

Ichigo held his hands up smugly, "Well, at least you both admit you have your pervert moments." He said, as if he were the resident saint.

Her mind exploding with embarrassment, she quickly bounced into 'Tsun' mode. "S-shut up! The both of you!" the woman turned fiery hot. "I, er, yo-, MY CLOTHES WERE IN THE WASH!" she roared the first justification that came to mind that actually made sense. "That's why I was wearing those 'costumes' as you said. I just didn't have anything else to wear!"

Ding! Shaolin 2, Senna 1, Ichigo 1!

"Wow!" Senna crooned, as she looked over at her beloved. "Did you hear that Ichigo-koi?"

"Yes, I did." The man chuckled to himself.

The Chinese woman gulped at the seemingly hint the two of them got that she obviously didn't. "W-what?"

Senna was happy to oblige her. "I can't believe you wore those outfit with no undergarments underneath." She informed, which made the ex-captain blush and sputter more gibberish nonsense as she tried and failed to explain. "I thought I was bad, but you, you're extreme. A walking wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, have you know shame? Or maybe…ahaha, or maybe you wanted it to happen! Ahahaha!"

Ding! Shaolin 2, Senna 2, Ichigo 2!

Shaolin face ran the gauntlet of emotions, before settling on cold rage. She was about to bring up another of her wife's dirty secrets, when she stopped and allowed her eyes to travel over to her thoroughly amused husband.

Then it clicked to her. She had seen what he did. Fine then, two could play at that game. "Hey Senna." She started, a cruel smirk on her lips.

"Yeah?" the woman replied, as she let her grip on the woman go.

"Don't you see what he'd doing?" she insinuated, "He's trying to pit us against one another."

The woman in the red bikini straightened up and considered her senior's words, and smiled seeing where she was going. "You are sooo right." she then shrugged uncaringly, "I guess it's just his way to compensate for our living arrangements." She added unto the slowly building fire.

Ichigo dropped his hands to his side, skepticism written all over his face. "What?"

Shaolin looked at her taller companion, nodding her head appraisingly. "Yeah, I hear you Senna-chan. I bring home the bread and you bring home the bacon." She then turned her attention to Ichigo "That leave you wiiiith doooing…what exactly do you do?"

"Wha-awww, come on, low blow!" The man cried foul, since while he wasn't the one bringing in the money with medical services, or teaching ancient marital arts skills, he was the one that fished for food on the sea and partook in building and construction work to supplement income.

"Assaaassiiin." The Bluenette sang the title of her occupation, the word serving as all the explanation she needed to give. "Besides, You know what they say, Ichigo."

"All's fair in love and war." Senna chirped just as happily.

Ding! Shaolin/Senna 3, Ichigo 2! Game match!

The two smiling women erupted into a roar of laughter at the comical mix of astonishment, frustration, and annoyance plaster on Ichigo's face. After a few moments of deadpanning at their frankly audacious actions, he started chuckle himself and joined in their mirth.

To the woman observing the situation from the window, the dynamic of the trio reminded her of certain habits that existed with the Ichigo and Senna she knew. Small teasing, diverted eyes, offhanded jokes, and bright smiles.

For a moment, she almost felt back home.

As the laughter died down, the grown-up Ichigo calmly walked over to the women and placed an arm over each of their shoulder, wrapping them in a protective hug.

Glancing to his left, he saw Shaolin returning his gaze with equal joy. Leaning in, he planted a soft tender kiss on the lips of the beautiful assassin. A pleasurable hum escaped her throat as she felt the spark of his love whenever their lips connected. Breaking away from the still wanting woman, the man turned over to his other wife, who had delight in her eyes. A passionate kiss was her reward for surviving another hectic day in there strange life. Feeling especially greedy, she gave tongue to her man, who returned it just as well.

As his lips parted from his second partner, the two blushing women returned their shared husband's hug with unrivaled verve, pulling him in close enough were he could practically feel their love pulsing from their hearts, desperately trying to reach his, to convey their thought without words. A smile slowly etched itself on his face, as he bowed his head to touch their own. He could feel it. One pulse that was proud and happy, the other innocent and joyful. He only hoped they could hear his.

The happiness in his heart for the two of the four, he would eternally protect.

The trio stayed like that contentedly for a few seconds, before the man pulled away and directed their attention to the nearby dinner table. "Anyway, why don't you two get settled in; I'll serve your food." He then walked over to the stairwell and looked up. "HEY!" he yelled to kids upstairs. "YUNA-HIME, MASAKI-HIME, DINNERS READY! SO COME ON DOWN, BEFORE IT GETS COLD!"

"Yes, Daddy/Father." Echoed both girls from the upstairs bathroom.

As the man approached the stove that was near the window, Shaolin was finally able to get an up close and personal look at the man. It seemed that despite the supposed seven-year interval and presumable strife in between, his eyes still held the same light of kindness in them.

Shaolin continued to stare mesmerized, she barely even noticed when she felt her hand touch against the warm glass. "Ichigo…" she muttered longingly, already missing her husband.

Her breath hitched when the man stopped his stirring of the pot and looked up to her hiding spot. His lips shifted to one side, while his brow hung half raised, an unassuming but disquieted curiosity about him.

The ambient moment between them was violently interrupted when the ground beneath the assassin's feet shook with such intensity it knocked her clean off her feet unto the nearby patch of grass behind her.

"What the hell?" she asked herself, as she tried to get back unto her feet. As she struggled to balance herself against the shifting world, the magnitude of the quake kept increasing forcing her back half a step more to readjust her stance. It kept systematically inching her back until by cruel fate, her heel slipped backwards over the drop off, sending her spiraling over the cliff's edge in the deep sea below.

Knowing that she could not swim, nor reach the bottom before running out of air, the woman let out a ghastly wail in a final desperate attempt to gain someone's, anyone's, attention as she plunged all the way down into the dark waters below.

Her terror-filled scream echoed far and wide over the land, magnified by the acoustics of the location, but in the end her shrieks fell on deaf ears.

When she was about to hit the water, she closed her eyes and when she pierced through the surface, her body rattled against the pressure change, but instead of one shaking pulse it kept continuing over and over again, accompanied by a faint voice.

After a few seconds of holding what little breath her lungs had, she finally opened her eyes and found herself staring back at the last thing she expected.

Her bathroom mirror.

"Hey! Soifon! Krrsh, Soul Society to Soifon, come in Soifon, stop being a zombie, over, Krssh!" the familiar voice of Yoruichi called out to her again, as she shook the petite captain's still frame, obviously having been trying to get her attention for some time.

"Uuuhh…" the dazed girl groaned out, as her eyes drifted from the images reflected in the mirror to her sensei and ex-commander at her side.

The cat girl smiled cheerfully, "Welcome back to the world of the afterlife, space cadet." She then moved her wrist close to the girl mouth. "Here, let me get that for ya." She then wiped away a small trail of drool that had seeped out of the corner of the captain's mouth. "Had a good dream or something?"

"Yoru…ichi…?" Soifon's puzzled mind pieced together. "How…how did you get here?"

"Me?" she repeated, before she dug into her pockets and pulled out an old looking key. "Spare key. You never changed the locks apparently, so I helped myself in. Heard you were in town and I wanted to see ya." She then lifted her hand that the girl's saliva. "Didn't expect to see you drooling into a mirror. You alright? The people in charge aren't working you too hard are they?"

"Uhhh…" a groan escaped the protégé's throat, unsure of what exactly to say.

Had this been a trick of Aizen? Apparently not, since he wasn't here and there was information in that 'Dream (?)' he just couldn't have known, like their inner Hollows or Senna's interest in Ichigo. Her eyes drifted back to the side, where the silent mirror reflected her uneasy expression. "I guess it was just a weird daydream…" she answered none too sure.

Not knowing any better, Yoruichi chuckled to herself. "I can't believe it. My little bee was having a day dream that didn't involve me or Ichigo." She then leaned and whispered into the girl's ear "Or were you thinking about us, little bee."

The close proximity to her mentor sent the girl into full panic mode "I-I, no! I mean. I wasn't thinking those kinds of thoughts, Yoruichi…" the ebony woman smiled knowingly, "…san." Came the forced ending.

Just like that the goddess of flash deflated. "Damn, you were doing so well. You actually said my name." she tsked.

"Sorry, Yoruichi…san. Some habits are hard to drop." The woman said mournfully. She with the help of Ichigo, Senna, and Yoruichi had made great strides in breaking her of her over formality…this was just homestretch to a mission accomplished.

"Hehe, oh well, one foot in front of the next." The cat woman tilted her head to the side, curious. "So, you feeling alright? You had me worried."

"Apologies, I've got a lot on my mind."

Yoruichi nodded, understanding it might take a little coaxing to get her to talk about it. Lifting her hand up, she brushed the woman's hair. "You know we're gonna be fighting some tough enemies up ahead." She slipped one of the braids around for both girls to see. "I don't mind cutting it short for you."

Shaolin eyed the white band, momentarily, before nodding her head. "That'd be nice." She said with a warm smile.

As the girls turned around to leave the bathroom to catch up with each other, unbeknownst to them from the other end of the mirror, stood Sosuke Aizen standing in his own bathroom in Hueco Mundo, the man was smirking to himself. He had hoped to use his 'Ninchi Shinjitsu' ability to learn some valuable battle plans that Soul Society would employ, but what he got was far more pivotal in tipping the scales in his favor. "Thank-you and Congratulations, Mrs. Kurosaki." He thanked sincerely, as he sheathed his sword.

Stepping out of his bathroom, he put on his coat and stepped outside to his throne room. As the door closed behind him, he glanced at his side where his loyal fraccion Loly and Menoly stood at attention. "Good evening ladies."

They saluted their master. "Good evening, Aizen-sama!" then brought their hands down. "Have you finished strategizing?" Menoly asked

"Yes, I have, but I will need your help." He said which caused the eyes of both women to light up. "Firstly, Menoly, I wasn't you to go get Harribel and Luppi, I have a mission for them in the human world."

"Yes, Aizen-sama."

He then turned over to black pigtailed fraccion "Loly, I want you to go to Szayelaporro and request a holographic communication pad and bring back to me. If there is time, find out he and the Primera are doing on the reconstruction of Grimmjow's arm."

Loly flinched at the mentioning of Grimmjow name, which Aizen saw. He knew she would do it, but still he needed the task done quickly. "Be at ease, she is also with the both of them. You'll be perfectly safe, under her watchful eye."

Loly turned bright red, misinterpreting Aizen's concern for her. "I...ah, yes Aizen-sama!" she saluted, while Menoly just glared at her in annoyance.

"Very well. Dismissed." He ordered. The two disappeared in a burst of Sonido, while the overlord made his way over to the throne. He sat down in his chair and breathed out a sigh, as he looked over the empty throne room. "Ruling as far the eye can see." The man propped his arm up and rested his cheek against it. "It's funny; I'm so close that I can taste it." He closed his eyes a peaceful smile on his lips, "So why do I still think about my past?"

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End Fic banter:

Blackout2010: So kiddos what did we learn in this chapter.

Shaolin: I learned that in seven years' time, I will have jokes…and problems.

Senna (ashamed): 'Like it rough', huh?

Ichigo (contemplative): Lady Darwinist...

Blackout2010: And you Senna?

Senna: I learned that in seven years, I will surrender my heart to darkness and become [blushes] a naughty girl.

Ichigo: That's...[sweat drop]...no, no comment.

Shaolin (matter-of-factly): Considering the original line in the script was 'Whips and Chains excite me', then yes, I agree with that summation.

Blackout2010 Ichigo?

Ichigo (depressed): I learned that in seven years, unless I'm married, I'll live in perpetual poverty.

Senna (hopeful): Well there are plenty of action heroes that don't make money!

Shaolin (curious): Such as?

Senna (happily): The Terminator! He doesn't even start with clothing half the time. [tilts head to the side] What? Why are you staring at me like that?

Ichigo/Shaolin:...

Blackout2010 [gives thumbs-up]: AWESOME! See ya next chapter!

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(Author's informative to the audience)

The following chapters after this chapter are written in such a way that they interconnect along the timeline of events. This means that we will be seeing simultaneous events that must be viewed, because if it's skipped, you, the audience, will be left somewhat in the dark.

Hence the timeline I've provided.

Aizen force: 33a, 32, 33b (link)

Time: 29 (split)xxxxxxxxChap. 34 -) continue into next Arc.

Ichigo for.: chap.30 and 31 (link)

For easier convenience into understanding how to read, I'll provide a different but easier way to visually explain it:

Imagine two guys living in the same house: Joe and John.
At 8 am:
John is heading off to work/Joe makes himself some coffee
At 10 am:
John is sitting in his cubical/Joe turns on the TV and watch the news
At 12:
John is eating lunch [at work]/ Joe is eating lunch [at home]
At 2:
John is at a meeting/Joe does exercise
At 4:
John is driving home/Joe starts making dinner
At 5:
They both eat dinner.

I hope it helps explain. PM me for any question in trying to understand. (Don't worry I'll put this at the end of the following chapters for convenience.)

(Author's informative to the audience end)

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(Fun trivia)

For those wanting some last minute entertainment, I decided to pose a question regarding something in the chapter. Now if you choose to play, you can't look back up, when you make your guess, as it's a test to see if you were paying attention. Similarly, if you chose to forgo the question and re-read, you'd obviously spoil it for yourself. It's a one-time only.

Now for the question:

[Insert jeopardy music]

In the BTAT fic what is the name of Shaolin's (Soifon) mother?

[Conclude jeopardy music]

Now for those of you who got it, awesome job. And those who didn't, always next time.

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(Guidepost to the soul.)

1. Ninchi Shinjitsu translates into Perceived Truth, hence the colon. This goes back to what I said earlier about following Soifon's perspective. Recall, Soifon has already been stated to be HYPNOTIZED by Aizen's Kyoka Suigetsu. If you look back last chapter, you will see Aizen said 'Ninchi Shinjitsu' before Soifon get sucked into the mirror.

2. I can't remember where, I think it might have been an old data book, but it was stated that Soifon doesn't actually know how to swim, so I believe that is Canon fact.

3,I point this out to working because it's semi-plausible. In Canon, during the SS arc, Chad, Ganju and Uryu were captured and being held in the fourth division for medical treatment. All of them received injury of some kind. Here's where I make the deduction: SS wanted them alive to be taken for interrogation, so they would need to be healed up, as quickly as possible for transportation, thusly Healing Kido would be used on them to speed up the healing process. Chad and Uryu were both injured and they were both alive. The pair did not leave their bodies back in the human world, hence they were in them the whole time (although it did get explained to have been converted to Reshi) so that is how I reached my conclusion that Healing Kido COULD (in theory anyway) work on living humans.

4. This is actually a double layered joke and culturally correct term. So to explain the first layer of the joke. Senna would call Shaolin 'Little Big Sister', while Shaolin would call Senna 'Big Little Sister'. The joke is based around their respective heights and ages (although I didn't actually make them call each other that due to obvious reader confusion). Senna is much taller but significantly younger than Shaolin, whereas Shaolin is much older than Senna but shorter in stature. It's basically a reversal on the taller person typically being older, incidentally they are also sister in laws which brings us too...

4. The culturally correct parts comes from this. Under the way of Chinese Polygamy, depending on whether it is a Sororate marriage (in which a person marries a relative of their spouse as well), an instance of multiple spouses with equal rights, or the gaining of a concubine: Wives and Concubines address each other as 'sister' in accordance to their respective age (older then younger) and rank (Nobility status [Royalty then Noble then Minor Noble then Commoner], Relationship status [Wife then Concubine], order of engagement [1st, 2nd, 3rd], ect.). Hence the first woman married (Shaolin in this case) is treated as the 'Head wife' (no exceptions.) and is referred to as 'Big Sister' by any of Ichigo's future spouses/concubines (there won't be. This just for posterities sake.). Hence as Cl4P-TP would probably say 'So when I said 'Sister', That was literally the funniest thing ever said!'

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Final PS:

To ViperChar:

Despite the massive amounts of Lesyay and wincest (lol, the names people come up with), I hope I provided at least enough implied Ichi/Soi fluff for you, to tide you over. I try to fulfill requests when I can.

To KuramaFTW:

If you were particularly observant, you will notice a certain phrasing that you once used during an earlier conversation with me. I...it got added in last minute. So props to you as well, if you don't recall, it's the whole: Soifon the 'ice-cold woman that would put Hyorinmaru to shame in sub-zero temperatures' comment from our 9/4/2013 conversation. Enjoy your personal chuckle.