Of Birthdays and Siblings

Lost Puppies

The look on Ichigo's face indicating he was lost in thought didn't go away even after lunch was finished. Uryu grabbed the dishes for Yuzu and carried them into the kitchen. While the brown haired twin was occupied with starting in on them, he approached Bambietta and Toshiro. "We had best get going before any of the Shinigami from Soul Society show up."

The three headed out after bidding the Kurosaki family good day and headed over to Uryu's apartment. The young man walked in front of him while the twins followed behind him. "Why did you think that us being called children born of darkness is a derogatory term?"

The young man glanced over his shoulder before turning it back. "Because it is used in reference to a group of hybrids and it wasn't created by the hybrids themselves like the terms Viazard and Arrancar."

Bambietta shook her head at him. "That's what bothers me, because..."

A sudden crackling sound was heard and Uryu found himself suddenly frowning. "Those aren't Shinigami."

Toshiro moved his hand to his pocket and popped a soul pill into his mouth so that he could pop out of his body. He felt Bambietta grab his arm as he reached for the hilt of his blade. Uryu moved to ready his bow and arrows, only to find himself pushed to the ground by a few in strange white clothing.

"Do you really think that it is honorable for one Quincy to attack another Quincy?" A voice came from behind Toshiro and he could feel his sister's hands tighten around his arm. "Why don't you just come on home young lady?"

A hot breath was felt near his ear as Bambietta spoke up. "No."

"Excuse me."

"I'm not leaving Toto-chan behind." The small female stated, her lips pushing together tightly.

"That Shinigami brat?" One of the Quincy spoke up with a great deal of disdain.

"Watch your tongue." The man behind them snapped the words out, the irritation in his voice growing. "Don't worry, he will be coming with us."

"That isn't what I mean." Bambietta's tone sounded pleading.

"Excuse me?"

"She means we're going to be staying in the world of the living." Toshiro spoke up.

"You think you can stop us from taking you?" Another one of the Quincy that had showed up choose to speak. "We're strong enough to bring all three of you with us."

The small Shinigami found himself swallowing, but he stood his ground and refused to budge. The person from behind them let out a deep sigh. "Since you leave me no choice, I'll provide a little bit of pressure and an incentive to come with us."

Toshiro suddenly felt his eyes bulge as he felt the sudden flare in the man's reiatsu. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't have had any effect on him, but he found that the back of his head where he had hit it earlier that morning was suddenly throbbing painfully. He found himself suddenly pushed to his knees as Bambietta was forced to let him go.

"We're not going back!"

"Vandenriech is your home as well as his."

"You lied to me when you told me that Soul Society killed mommy, daddy and..."

"I didn't lie to you. I told you that Soul Society took away your family and that your father is dead." The man snapped the words out. Toshiro felt footsteps as the man approached him.. The man went on one knee and carefully disarmed Toshiro, proceeding to tie Hyorinmaru to his side. He then wrapped his arms around the boy in an effort to lift him to a sitting position.

"Your highness... that child is a Shinigami."

"Actually, this little one is a child of darkness." The man stated as he helped Toshiro up. "So don't speak ill of him."

"You can't take them!" Uryu glared from the position that he was pinned down from.

"Should we take him with us and kill him."

"No..." The man spoke up. "I want him to pass a message for me onto Soul Society. Soul Society may want nothing to do with the children of darkness, but Vandenriech is a safe haven for them. If Soul Society comes after them it will be taken as an act of war"

It was then that Uryu found himself knocked unconscious. The next thing he knew he was waking up to a flash light being shown in his eye and a very familiar face looking down at him. Uryu opened his mouth. "You have a lot of explaining to do father."

"Excuse me? I'm not the one who needs to explain something to his kids because I am not keeping any secrets."

"You're referring to Kurosaki Isshin and his family." Uryu sat up. "I'm not talking about you keeping secrets from me, I'm talking about information you haven't yet told me. Did you know that their were Quincy still alive?"

The man pulled back to sit in his chair. "I had an idea that they could still be alive, but I also couldn't be sure either. Isshin told me he had a feeling they were still around., but the Quincy here in the living world had cut ourselves off from them. A few showed up here randomly that we couldn't tie back to any family. My mother, your mother."

"In other words you were in denial that they were still around. Why?"

"Because the Quincy we're talking about aren't like those of us from the living world. In truth, the Quincy used to be part of Soul Society, but a war broke out due to the fact the Quincy hated the fact our family members were being killed off by Hollow. Didn't you ever think about why we Quincy wanted to kill Hollow despite the fact any soul from the living world would end up going to Soul Society and thus destroying the Hollow would destroy them?"

"So you're saying that the Quincy were once souls who were not happy with the fact they would not ever be able to see their family members again." Uryu folded his arms across his chest. "I am now under the impression that the words children born of darkness isn't referring to the hybrid from Quincy and Shinigami."

"Actually, it has been so long you might as well call them hybrids. Originally they were called pure ones because they used to be the children who were born with the ability to learn both Quincy and Shinigami technique. When they were separated there was no more mingling of blood lines and each side had less and less who crossed over to the other side, though there are a few born who would do better learning the other technique style."

"But where do those words come from?"

"It comes from the fact the Shinigami wished to eradicate the fact Quincy ever existed. They didn't want the newer generations to know the rather huge mistake they made. This is why the Shinigami struggle against the Arrancar, their captains are not trained in Quincy techniques as well as Shinigami technique. I've heard from Isshin that he feels that the children born of darkness would now be safe in Soul Society now that things have changed."

"Yet they don't think so."

"What do you mean?"

"One of the captains, Hitsugaya Toshiro is a child born of darkness and they have him along with his twin sister. They told me to tell Soul Society will be a declaration of war."

"That's funny when kidnapping Toshiro is a declaration of war," said a third voice.