Chapter Text
Ichigo knew his sisters had beaten him home. He stepped into the house and found them, passed out on the floor at the entrance.
“Sheesh.” He sighed as he scooped up the bodies of Yuzu and Karin. “You could least wait until you are actually in the home.”
He carried them over to the side room that had three simple cots set up. He placed them on one each and carefully drapped a blanket over them.
Once that was done, he headed back to the entrance. As he took off his shoes, Yuzu in her Shihakuzho came around the corner. She had a apron tied on overtop of the spiritual garment.
“Dinner is almost ready, Ichigo.”
“Thanks,” He smiled at her. “You two really need to stop leaving your husks laying at the door. What if someone came by and saw them? Again.”
He reached out and touched a sticker that was attached to the wall and his mortal body slumped as his spiritual body was freed. He sighed in relief.
“Sorry, Ichigo.” Yuzu apologized. “By the end of the day, my body is so hot and cumbersome, I just want to get free.”
He could understand that. He sighed as he looked up at the ceiling and recalled how just a year ago, things had been so different.
*Bleach*
Ichigo had been in bed when he heard the loud noise from the direction of his father’s room. Now, Ichigo would be the first among his siblings to state how annoying his dad could be. But that didn’t mean whatever that noise was did not scare him to his very core. Pest he might be, but he was their pest after all.
He got up and headed out into the hallway. He saw the door to Karin and Yuzu’s room open and the two girls peeking out.
“What happened, Ichigo?” Yuzu asked, her voice terrified. “Is Daddy alright?”
Ichigo put on a brave face for his sisters. “I’m sure our old man is fine, maybe he just dropped something. Go back to bed, I’ll check on him.”
Yuzu nodded though Karin looked like she wanted to argue but they said nothing as they stepped out into the hall. He sighed and motioned for them to follow.
They arrived at the door of their father’s room. Ichigo realized he had not been inside since his mother had died. He steeled his nerves and opened the door.
Their dad was not where to be seen. He started looking around and Yuzu got down to look under the bed while Karin checked the closet. Not a sign of their father.
“Nothing but Daddy’s stash of photos of Mommy.” Yuzu confirmed as she got up.
“All of dad’s clothes are in the closet.” Karin confirmed. “So are the valuables.”
Ichigo shook his head. “No footprints or anything. The window is not broken either. I’ll check around downstairs. You two really should go back to bed, you have school in the morning.”
Both girls nodded though he suspected there would not be much sleeping. He could see worry on their faces, even Karin who tended to bury her emotions.
“I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation for this.” He patted their heads. “I’ll do a pass of the house before I go back to bed. I bet he broke something and is hiding in the clinic to keep from being scolded by his loving children.”
The twins nodded, though he could tell that they were not convinced and they headed back to their rooms. Ichigo had barely set food downstairs when there was a scream from the direction of his sisters’ room. He ran back upstairs and to their door.
“What’s wrong?” He asked and noticed the issue for himself.
Karin and Yuzu were standing next to their beds, where another version of each of them still tucked in, as if asleep.
“Ichigo… are we dead?” Karin asked, panic rising in her voice.
“No,” he said with confidence born from having seen many spirits. “You don’t have those broken chains like the ghosts I see have. In fact, if I wasn't looking at both you and your bodies at the same time, I would think this was a prank.”
He reached out and touched them as easily as ever. Then a thought occurred to him. He ran to his own room and there, laying in his bed, was his body.
“I…I don’t know what’s happened.” He said as he fell to his knees.
Right then, the doorbell rang.
*Bleach*
“Hard to believe a year has passed since we first became these spiritual forms.” Karin mused as he sat down across from them.
Like himself and Yuzu, she was in her black robe that felt right on their incorporeal flesh.
Their human bodies had still been alive, it seemed, though required no food or water anymore. They still got hungry and thirsty though and found that consuming substance in this form to be way more pleasing than eating in a coperal form. For one thing, no waste was created from the process.
“I still wish we knew why our souls separated from our bodies and what all of this means.” Yuzu put some extra rice onto Ichigo’s plate.
“Hey…” he started to complain but she aimed her serving spoon at him.
“No complaints. You know Mr. Urahara said that as you have more spiritual energy, you require the most food. Besides, it’s you that has to work for him to earn us this food.”
He grudgingly accepted the extra food and started to eat. Kisuke had appeared right after their transformation into spiritual beings. He had brought them the Shihakusho as well as food that spiritual bodies could consume. They were almost completely reliant on him, as their father had not left much money when he had vanished.
“Kisuke is a shifty dude.” Ichigo said. “But he is keeping us fed.”
*Bleach*
Ichigo had gotten up as the doorbell continued to ring. He walked down the stairs and opened the front door.
“Good evening, Ichigo Kurosaki. May I come in?” A man in a green hat and traditional style clothing asked him.
“Who are you… and how can you see me?” Ichigo asked, realizing at the last moment that he was still a spirit.
“I am someone like yourself, a spiritual being that inhabits a material form when I have a mind too. Your father contacted me and asked me to come with all haste. Is he in?”
Ichigo looked over the man and could believe that this was someone his father was acquainted with.
“No, I was just looking for him with my sisters when we realized…” He trailed off and the man laughed.
“That you had left your bodies behind? Yes, he mentioned something like that seemed to be happening. I’ve come to help, though my help doesn’t come free. However, seeing that you are the children of my dear friend, I will give you what you need to survive this change, in return for your help around my shop when needed.”
Ichigo wanted to yell ‘hell no’ in this man’s face, but he held that impulse in check. What would happen to his little sisters if he let his pride get in the way.
“Alright, I’ll do it.” He held out his hand.
The man smiled and took his hand. “I like you, Ichigo. A handshake between men. My name is Kisuke Urahara. And we have a lot to go over.”
*Bleach*
The next hours were filled with Kisuke explaining the Soul Society, Wholes, Hollows, and Soul Reapers to the three Kurosaki children.
Kisuke had installed the sticker on the wall, allowing them to separated from their bodies at will.
“You will find those bodies uncomfortable now, which is completely understandable. They will still age and grow though, when you are inside them. You spirit bodies age at a drastically slow rate. If you like, we can even replace your original bodies with false ones called Gigai. These will not change normally so you will have to replace them in about a century or so when you age a little.”
“This is a lot to take in, Mr. Urahara.” Yuzu had said. “Can we have some time to talk about it together before we make a decision on that?”
“Of course, that is not a decision to take lightly. Please let me know at my shop when you have made up your minds.”
*Bleach*
Ichigo looked at the room where their Gigai lay comatose. It had taken them a month to come to the decision to trade their human bodies for the Gigai Kisuke offered. It was strange, but he felt no particular attachment to his human body anymore. In fact, if Kisuke had not insisted the three of them remain connected to the human world for the time being, they likely would have just continued living as spirts.
“Has Kisuke had any luck finding Dad?” Karin asked as she sipped her drink.
“No,” Ichigo shook his head. “He also said the Soul Society in ignoring his messages, so they don’t know there are three spiritual beings just living in the Human world with no safe way to enter Soul Society.”
Yuzu frowned. “I thought he said they would be able to sense us and send a Soul Reaper to investigate. We’re lucky a Hollow hasn’t come for us in a while.”
Ichigo groaned. He didn’t want to think about the encounter they had with that bug type Hollow last month. Still, they would stay together even if separating might be safer. After all, birds of a feather flock together.
*Bleach*
Aizen stood and looked out over the city of Karakura Town.
“I sense three beings with strong spiritual powers.” He remarked to his ever present sidekick, Gin. “They do not appear to be human.”
He grabbed the air and held up three red ribbons.
“Soul Reapers… without proper training?” Gin asked. His face morphed into a twisted smile. “What do you want to do?”
Aizen smiled. “Force the issue, of course. At least one of them might already possess a power to manifest a proxy Zanpakuto. If we can get Soul Society thinking there is a new Substitute Soul Reaper, it might be the distraction we need to make our move.”
Gin inclined his head. “So be it, Captain Aizen. I’ll make the arrangements with our contact.”