Double Trouble

16. Visit

Meanwhile, as Ichigo was in the middle of his training with Kisuke, Shiro headed out of the shoten. Rukia was curious about the once-Hollow and where he was going. She was certain he wasn't as innocent as Ichigo claimed his brother was and being the determined type of person that she was, followed him discreetly. Watching him from on far, Rukia followed the white haired boy to an assisted living facility. Watching from the entrance she heard the brunette female receptionist at the front greet the fifteen year old.

"Hello Shiro!"

Shiro smiled his sweetest smile at her, his black gold eyes covered by his sunglasses, so they didn't scare anyone. "Aimi." He greeted her. "How are those boys of yours?"

"Oh, keeping me busy." She stated with a giggle. Knowing why he was there she pointed down the hall to her left. "She's in the sunroom today." She then noticed something odd. "Where's your brother? You two are never seen without the other."

He gave her a shrug. "Busy." Was his single worded answer before walking away towards the sunroom down the hall.

Once he was out of sight, Rukia approached the human woman. "Excuse me?" She began trying to act like a shy schoolgirl. "I'm a friend of Shiro's, but I was wondering why he was here?"

Aimi looked at the young girl in front of her. The way she was wiggling in the sundress and acting all shy was adorable. She pulled off her black framed glasses and smiled sweetly towards her. "You do know about the accident years ago, correct?"

"Of course." Rukia answered, lying of course. She had heard rumours that years ago Ichigo and Shiro had been hurt but didn't know the full details. "Both Ichigo and Shiro were hurt during a storm one night, but that was in elementary school."

The woman nodded before stepping around the reception desk and began leading Rukia down the corridor. "Yes, but they were not the only ones." She told the girl as they came to a stop in front of a room with windows and a woman sitting in a rocking chair. Shiro was talking to the woman with a huge smile on his face, one that Rukia had never seen before. "Their mother covered them with her body. She was hurt severely and has yet to come out of it. She's awake, but she has no knowledge as to what is going on around her." She sighed. "Her boys come every week to see her. Her husband comes every day. I've only seen her daughters come once a month." She smiled softly at Rukia. "I'm sure it's because seeing her like this is hard for those girls."

Rukia touched her chin. "What caused this?" She looked at the woman. "Surely a storm couldn't cause this."

"She had bruises and cuts all along her left side of her body when brought in, but doctors were stumped as to what caused it." She answered before waving for Rukia to follow her. "You should leave now Miss. I don't want you to get into any trouble, but I hope this helps you in understanding those boys."

"Yes. It does help." She admitted as she left quietly, not knowing that Shiro had watched her leave after sensing her nearby. Dark eyes narrowed at the backside of the retreating Shinigami.

After returning to his mother's side, Shiro opened a book of poems and began reading the ones that were highlighted, remembering how she always read this book when he was a child. His chest tightened as he read one about the love of a mother towards her son, having always seen this one as something special. He felt her hand twitch in his hand as he came to a stop. Tears were already forming in his eyes. He knew the doctor said that she wasn't really responding to him or any of them, that when she twitched like this that it was just her nerves responding to stimulation from her therapy. Looking up into her eyes, Shiro could swear he saw recognition in them before it vanished.

Sorry Mom." He apologized. "If I or Ichi weren't like what we are, you never would've been hurt that night." He kissed the back of her hand before returning to the poems.

~~

Walking into their home later that night, Shiro could hear the laughter of his sisters and followed it into the kitchen where Yuzu was standing over the stove. Looking down at the pan he saw that it was a stir fry. "A new recipe?" he inquired before snagging a bite of meat.

"Shiro!" Yuzu yelled out indignantly.

"Where's Ichi?" Karin asked as she looked up from her homework.

At a friends place tonight." He answered.

"And you're not staying with him?" Yuzu asked with shock in her voice.

Shiro knew they were teasing him. Looking away from them as his cheeks went pink with embarrassment he answered, "No." he mumbled.

Both girls grinned evilly before launching their arms around him. "That means we get you to ourselves!" Yuzu yelled happily.

"Plus side, Dad is out of town too!" Karin stated with a grin.

Shiro looked from arm to arm before mumbling, "Joy." Sarcastically. Both girls began giggling as hey dragged him towards the couch where they handed him the remote. Shiro was one of the few people in their household that knew the combination to get parental locks off of the tv, which meant that it was horror movie night!

~~

The first night without Ichigo around wasn't too bad. Shiro had the girls to entertain himself with. Scary movies mixed with a brother who knew how to scare them, led to the girls sleeping in his and Ichigo's room. Waking up the next morning with a foot in his face and a hand over his eyes, wasn't all too pleasant. The next evening wasn't too bad either. He made sure the two ate, did their homework and bathed, before sending them to their room. Once again Isshin was MIA. Though this didn't bother Shiro, he was curious about why their father suddenly disappeared. Out of town for a convention that nobody had known about, just felt fishy. The morning of the third day was a Sunday morning. His nose twitched at the smell of food being cooked. Walking downstairs, Shiro expected to see Yuzu in the kitchen, but instead it was Isshin cooking eggs, bacon and toast. The two empty plates meant that the girls had already eaten and were off with their day.

Isshin looked up to see Shiro looking unsure. "Sit." He told his son by nodding towards the table.

Things were always tense between the two and without Ichigo to act as a buffer, Shiro was left feeling uncertain. Sitting and deciding not to start a fight, Shiro waited for his breakfast. Once the food was place in front of him, the teen began to eat as if he was a starved person. A chuckle caused him to raise an eyebrow at his father.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you had starved yourself over the last few days." Isshin stated as he ate his own breakfast. "Where is Ichigo?" The serious tone made Shiro flinch.

"A friend's place." He answered softly before taking a drink from his cup.

"You didn't stay with him?" Isshin inquired, seeking to probe the teen for answers.

"I don't need ta always be wit Ichi." His speech being impaired by the mouthful of food causing Isshin to frown. "He'll be home tonight." He said as he cleared his mouth and throat.

Isshin studied Shiro for a moment, realizing how grown the boy had become. Yes, he still blamed Shiro for Masaki's condition, but he was truly trying to see the boy as something other than having once been a Hollow. After a few moments of silence he gave a nod. "Alright."

After the awkward breakfast, Shiro left the house and headed back to the shoten. Upon stepping out into the training room where the group was waiting, Shiro suddenly gave a wide grin as he felt the rise of a great power coming from within the hole when suddenly a bright light, along with a huge amount of energy exploded in the area. When Ichigo stood unharmed wearing Shinigami clothes, Shiro turned towards the shopkeeper. "Well, darn." He stated with sarcasm. "And here I was lookin' forward ta killin' ya." Walking over towards Ichigo, Shiro began inspecting his brother's new look.

Urahara scratched the back of his neck. "Was that supposed to happen?" Rukia inquired as she looked at the exiled former Shinigami.

The power released had been huge, bigger than Kisuke had been expecting. "Yes." He said with some hesitance. "However, it is also a no. Yes, that could happen, but no, I wasn't expecting such a large explosion of power." He tried to explain. I suppose with these two I should have expected something as unexpected as that. He thought as he began to approach the twins. The next few hours were going to be interesting since now he was going to their strength and endurance. After all, they would need to be strong for what laid ahead of them.