I don't own anything but the three Arrancars, Nathan, Rosalia, Sashiro and the father that's barely there. Bleach and all it's characters aside from my OCs belong to Tite Kubo. I do not claim to own anything. Just a fnafiction made for fun. Can't make this clearer without a foghorn.

Insignificant Importance

Chapter 1:

Things had been pretty quiet around Karakura Town. This was something a certain orange-haired teen liked. Ichigo liked it when things were peaceful. That meant that there was nothing for him to worry about. He could relax, something that he missed. Ever since he had become a Soul Reaper, there was less time for him to sit around and do nothing. But there was nothing wrong with being active. And at least he was doing something worth while. His job was to protect people, something he desired from the time he became a big brother.

But now things were pretty calm. Calm to the point of being boring. But he should be grateful for this short-lived time of monotonous boredom. It meant that it was about to end and that he was about to be thrown into yet another headache.

Ichigo stepped through the front door of his house, greeted his younger sisters and went straight to his room. Halfway up the staircase, he heard Yuzu call to him, asking him about what they should have for dinner. He told her to pick and continued on his way.

Once in the safety of his closed bedroom, he tossed his bag down and started to get out of his uniform. As he removed his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt, he heard voices. He stopped and looked around. That didn't sound like Kon. Couldn't be. He was still in Ichigo's pocket. Multiple voices were coming from the inside of his room. Somewhere. He turned. Nothing behind him. He turned again. Nothing near his desk. He got down on all four and pressed his ear to the floor. Nothing under his bed but dust and magazines and an old baseball he forgot that he had. He straightened up. Where was it coming from?

"Shut up!"

"You're on my leg!"

"I'm not on your leg, so be quiet!"

"As soon as you get off my leg!"

"Shut up, the both of you!"

"Ow! Quit pulling my hair!"

"I'm not!"

"Ow… Ow..! Ow!"

"Shh!"

"Sorry… I…"

"Ouch! That hurt, you idiot!"

"I didn't mean to-"

"Stop it!"

"Quit pushing me!"

Ichigo turned his attention to his closet. He knew those voices anywhere.

"I'm not pushing you!"

"Shut up! Someone will hear you!"

"The last thing we need is someone coming up here and discovering us."

"Then tell him to move!"

"I'm sorry, but could you..?"

"Ow! My hair again!"

"Then cut it if it's such a pain in the ass!"

"No! I would never cut off my beautiful hair any sooner than I'd give up drinking!"

"Hitsugaya was right about you…"

"Oh, shut up, baldy!"

"Ow! My back is killing me! One of you has to get off!"

"I'm not on you!"

"Um… Please… Someone's-"

"Ow! Stop pushing!"

"I'm not pushing!"

"Quit it before you-"

The closet door flew open and five people came tumbling out. How so many of them managed to fit in his tiny closet was beyond him but now he had other problems to deal with. Ichigo looked down at the group on the floor. "What the hell's going on here?"

Rangiku sat up first, holding her head. "See? I told you he'd be here soon enough. We didn't need to go searching."

Ikkaku got up next. "Dammit! You nearly broke my back!"

"Don't look at me. Yumichika was the one sitting on you."

Said Soul Reaper crawled out from under Ikkaku's leg, trying to fix his hair. "This was not the beautiful turn out I was hoping for… And I was the one under you, Rangiku, so don't give me that!"

Rukia stood up out of the pile brushing herself off. "Honestly… Ichigo, we need to talk to you."

"I'll say! Why the hell were you all in my closet?"

"We didn't want your family finding us. A few of us happen to be in gigais in case you haven't noticed." She pointed to her school uniform.

Ichigo looked at the others on the floor and couldn't help but notice that they were all still in their Soul Reaper uniforms. "A few? I only see you…"

"Ow…" A tiny voice came from under the pile of tangled bodies.

Rukia smiled. "Ichigo, I think you remember this face pretty well."

Everyone moved, allowing the body underneath to be revealed. A thin man with golden locks and pale skin emerged from under the others on his stomach, rubbing his head. He turned his deep blue eyes up toward Ichigo. "Hey, long time no see, Ichigo."

"Nathan!" Ichigo's face lit up. He hadn't meant to show that much emotion, but it had been so long since the two had seen each other that he couldn't help it. "It's been a while. How have you been? I see you still have that accent."

He shrugged sheepishly as Ichigo helped him to his feet. "It's rather hard to get rid of. I've been alright, I suppose."

Ichigo looked down at the ring on Nathan's finger. He grinned. "How's she doing?"

Nathan blush. "Oh… Alright, I suppose. She's ok. She's fine. Great, actually."

Same old Nathan.

"Ichigo." It was Rukia this time. "I hate to break this little reunion up so soon, but we really should talk."

"Oh, yeah. So what's up?" He took a seat on his bed. Nathan sat at his feet like a dog to his master. Still a servant even in the smallest of ways. He still didn't think that he was worthy enough to sit beside Ichigo as an equal.

"First of all, have you noticed anything strange around here lately?"

"No. It's all been quiet. Why?"

"Well," Rukia went on. "Just a little while ago, Nathan contacted us at the Soul Society stating that he witnessed a couple of Arrancars near his home. Tell him what you told us, Nathan."

At once, he grew nervous. "Oh. Well, I… Uh… I wasn't sure what they were at first. I mean, they looked almost human. Well, 'humanish'… They were very white and had on masks, but they walked like normal people. I only saw them through the trees outside my home. But they looked very much the way Rodger did just before his full transformation."

"Those sound like Arrancars to me. What else?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. They vanished straight after that. I didn't see where they went."

Rukia looked back at Ichigo. "We think they're planning something. Why else would they be so close to the Seireitei? But the last time something like this happened, they came here. We don't know what they want, but it never hurts to be cautious. Which is why we're here. The Head Captain ordered us to come here and make sure that things were alright. Hitsugaya couldn't come and Renji is off on a mission of his own, otherwise, it's like the old team's back together."

Rangiku saluted. "I'm standing in for Hitsugaya and these two had to come along because they're always first to be dispatched into battle. And Rukia's here because she's familiar with the area, knows you pretty well and is a skilled fighter. Nathan's here mostly because of him being an eye witness. That and when he heard about where we were going, he insisted on coming along to see you again."

"N- not that I had to! I- I- I just wanted t- to…" His face was all red again. "I mean I miss you and all, but I mostly wanted… I- I wanted to… I don't know…"

"It's fine, Nathan. I'm glad to have you." Ichigo's words calmed Nathan and he smiled up at him in a grateful way.

"We're going to be hanging around the area for a few days to see if anything happens. If things are uneventful for a week, we go home. That's the mission."

Rangiku leaned into Ichigo's face. "In the meantime, is it ok if we stay here with you?"

Her bubbly attitude didn't go over well with Ichigo. "Like the last time you asked me that, I don't have room for all of you. Find somewhere else."

She pouted. "That's fine. I have to do a little shopping anyway while we're waiting for something to happen. See you guys later!" Rangiku was off in a flash.

Ikkaku and Yumichika got up and left out the window without a word to the others.

Rukia and Nathan were the only ones left now. Rukia turned to the window. "I should really have a look around before it gets too late. But it's cool if I stay in your closet again, right, Ichigo?"

"I-"

"Great, thanks!" She jumped out the window before anything else could be said.

"Hey!" Ichigo stuck his head out the window, but she was already gone. "Damn…"

Nathan stood behind him silently. When Ichigo turned back to him, he took a step back. "I don't suppose there's room here for me as well since your closet is already taken up by Miss Rukia."

He sighed. He couldn't help but take pity on him somehow. Then again, Nathan was an old friend. Why shouldn't he stay? "We'll figure out something. There's space on the floor-"

There was a quiet knock and then Yuzu came in wearing an apron. "Are you ok in here, Ichigo? I thought I heard-" She saw Nathan and stopped. Nathan stared back, apparently forgetting that she could see him in his gigai. "Oh, you have company? Who is this?"

"Uh…" Nathan turned to him in a panic. He didn't except to be caught like this.

"Um… This… is… my friend."

"Oh? Really? A friend?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I've never seen him before."

"Uh…" He thought quick. "Uh, he's from out of town. He was living here for a little while then moved to be closer to his family and now he's back to… visit me."

"Oh." Yuzu smiled. "Hi, I'm Yuzu. Ichigo's little sister."

He smiled back. "I'm Nathan." He bent over and kissed the back of her hand. Just like a gentleman.

She started blushing. "Wow..! Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Um…" He looked at Ichigo, unsure.

"He'd love to," Ichigo answered for him.

"Great!"

Yuzu started out the door when Nathan called out instinctively, "Would you like some help?"

She stopped and poked her head back in. "Oh? Uh, sure. If you want to." She hurried off.

Ichigo stood beside Nathan and gave him a sideward glance. "You cook?"

He avoided his gaze. "Uh… little. Maybe. Perhaps…"

X

Ichigo came downstairs an hour later and discovered Nathan dressed in an apron too small for his tall body and wearing a pair of oven mitts. He smiled sheepishly at Ichigo. He stared at Nathan for a while and sat down at the table across from Karin.

"You know, it's not polite to make the guest work, sis," Karin said coolly.

"I know, but he insisted. And he was a big help in the kitchen with me. It would have taken longer without his help. Thanks a lot, Nathan."

"Oh, you're welcome…" His cheeks were still red.

Ichigo leaned back in his seat.

Dinner was finally served and it was a little different tonight. Meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. It wasn't the traditional Japanese meals Yuzu usually cooked up, but it smelled wonderful and looked great.

"Dad's working late tonight so you can have his seat," Yuzu offered Nathan. He removed his borrowed apron and took his seat, thanking her.

"What's with the tie and suit?" Karin asked, noticing his well-dressed gigai.

"Oh." He looked down. "It's, uh…"

"So how was school today, guys?" Ichigo changed the subject.

"Great, actually!" Yuzu started talking about her day and what a good grade she got on a surprise quiz in math. Karin didn't say much, but she did mention how hard she had kicked a soccer ball that nearly tore a hole in the net. Ichigo told her how impressed he was and that earned him a smile from his sister. "So, Nathan, you have family somewhere else? What are they like?"

His hand paused in the middle of picking up his chopsticks. Actually, he had been struggling with them for a while now. He wasn't familiar with Japanese culinary or table manners. Up until this point, he had just been mimicking what everyone else was doing. When he didn't lift his bowl of rice up to his chin, Ichigo silently gestured for him to do so. This was all so foreign to him. But now that he had been asked a question, this gave him a good opportunity to stop fumbling with his chopsticks and speak.

"Oh. Yes, uh… What would you like to know?"

"Well, where are they from? Where are you from?"

"Um, England."

"Thank explains the accent," Karin smirked.

Yuzu was very interested. "Oh, wow! That's so far away. What's it like there? Do you live in an apartment or in a house like us? What are your customs?"

"Uh…" Nathan's eyes shifted back and forth. It was true that he had lived in England for some time and was born there, but that was over 100 years ago. So much had changed in that time. Still, he tried his best to answer while being truthful. "I was, um… adopted into a well-off family and raised under their roof. Their ways were different from what I was used to, but I adjusted. And, um… They lived in a big house."

"Big? How big? Was it like a mansion?"

"Uh, yes, actually. They were very rich."

Yuzu's eyes sparkled. "Oh, wow! Then that means that you had servants and all that stuff, right?"

"Oh, yes… But since I wasn't born into their family, I didn't have the same rights as they did. But I was allowed the food from their table and a room of my own with a comfortable bed to sleep in. I was happy there."

"Was?"

His eyes darted once again. "Oh. Yes. We, er, moved. It's a smaller place now, but very nice."

"Who do you live with?"

"My… wife, her father and another boy." Nathan looked down at the ring on his finger with a little smile.

Yuzu was squealing with joy. "Oh, how wonderful! You must be so happy! What's your wife like? Please tell me."

His face was blushing once again. "She's… beautiful." Nathan couldn't hide his smile. "She loves the color pink and adores pink roses. They're her favorite. We used to get food shipped special from Japan to our house. She discovered how much she liked sushi and always wanted to have it after that. She also likes sweets. I know she likes chocolate covered strawberries. The chefs made them for her everyday. She never got sick of them. And she's so… free-spirited. She was given rules to follow in order to maintain an image, but she always had to slip out of that loop. She's all about having fun. In a sense, she's never grown up. Every time I look at her, I still see the child who begged to take me in…"

"Ohh!" Yuzu's eyes were dancing and her cheeks were turning pink. "Such a romantic story! I can tell you really love her with all your heart! How wonderful!"

Karin didn't look impressed. "I don't know. And what exactly do you mean by 'take you in'? Was that some-"

"Karin, pass the rice!" Ichigo shoved his bowl in front of her face, cutting her off.

As she filled the bowl, Yuzu kept asking Nathan a whole bunch of questions. He looked like a trapped rat at the mercy of a hungry cat. But his good nature forced him to answer anything she threw at him.

"So…" Ichigo lifted his bowl to his face, ready to dig in. "Got anything for dessert?"

Yuzu jumped up. "Oh, yes! That's right!" She ran to the counter and held up a chocolate cake. "Nathan helped me make it. But I decorated it. See?" The frosting was done in a flower design with different fruits carefully placed to form a heart on the surface.

"Very nice. It looks so good, I almost feel bad cutting into it." Ichigo handed Yuzu a knife. "But chocolate is chocolate. Let's dig in."

"But you're still eat-"

Ichigo swallowed the rest of his rice and handed her the empty bowl. "Done."

"Great! Then let's-"

A thunderous boom sounded and in an instant, Yuzu was lost in a cloud of smoke and shattered glass. Ichigo could hear her scream but couldn't see her. Ichigo sprang to his feet as the table went airborne.

"Yuzu!" Karin was tangled up in her broken chair, cast backwards by the sudden blast. Worried for her twin, she scrambled to her feet. "Yuzu?"

"Yuzu, are you ok?"

"Yuzu!"

As the smoke cleared, they could make out two bodies on the floor. One was Yuzu and the other, strewn over her tiny body, was Nathan. Shielding her with his body the same way he had Rosalia so many years ago to save her, Nathan had taken the brunt of the blast. The back of his suit was torn to shreds and he was covered in glass and debris. As he peeled himself off of her, Yuzu emerged unscathed. But the meticulously made cake was beyond repair, smeared all over the kitchen floor.

Nathan helped her to her feet, still blocking her from the gaping hole in the wall with his body. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" She tried to peek over his shoulder. "What was that?"

Karin rushed to her sister's side, checking her for injury. She was fine.

But without the wall, there was nothing to support the rest of the ceiling from coming down. A few chunks were already starting to fall.

"You two, go to the other side of the house! It's not safe here!" Ichigo reached into his pocket and took out something small, round and green. He swallowed Kon and changed at once. "Take care of my sisters, Kon."

Cast into the situation, unaware of what was going on, Kon stuttered and looked around. "But, what's-?"

"Just take them to the other side of the house and keep them safe!" Ichigo climbed over the broken table and glass out the hole in the wall. Kon took Ichigo's sisters under his arms and ushered them to the other side of the house, far away from the damaged kitchen.

Ichigo stepped out into the street, looking around. There was nothing here. He could always lie and tell his sisters that it was a car crash, but he knew what it really was. Now he just had to find it. He scanned the street, searching.

"Come out and show yourself!" he shouted to the crisp night air. "I know you're here! Come on out!"

He was answered with car horns in the distance and crickets chirping nearby. A flickering street light buzzed above his head. This wasn't what he was looking for.

"You could have killed my sister! Your attack nearly hit them both! Damn it, look what you did to my house! I'm not taking this sitting down. Now show yourself! Coward!"

There was cackling above his head and he knew at once that this was the one responsible. He turned his head upward and saw someone tall snake out of the shadows. Dressed all in white came a man with a crescent moon shaped mask over his forehead. He kept a sword at his waist with a bronze handle and no guard. He moved into the light, allowing Ichigo to view his freckled face more clearly.

"Soul Reaper…" He smirked. "I am Cercenar."

Ichigo knew what he was even before he had seen his mask. "You're an Arrancar."

He chuckled. "Yes, indeed I am."

"What's your number?"

"Now why would you need to know that? It's just a number. Unlike the others, I don't take pride in my rank."

Ichigo smirked. "High number, huh?"

That struck a nerve with him. "Don't speak as if it's a bad thing! Higher number doesn't always mean weakness. And if you want proof of my strength, then bring it!"

"Gladly. I owe you for smashing my house." Ichigo grabbed his sword and got ready.

"That was a mistake." The Arrancar moved swiftly down to where Ichigo stood, having yet to reach is weapon. "I was merely trying to find something I've been searching for. I figured it might be here. After all, I can feel it in my bones."

"What? Looking for what?"

"Like you care." Cercenar struck, bringing his hand down like a battle ax upon Ichigo's sword.

Ichigo defended himself, sliding back from the force. This guy was strong, but he wasn't very quick. That gave Ichigo the edge. Ichigo threw him back with a thrust of his sword and charged. The Arrancar moved to the side just in time. He held up his hand as if to fire a cero. Ichigo didn't let him. He swung his sword and almost chopped off the man's hand.

"I know you're hiding it, Soul Reaper!" Cercenar said as he flipped through the air like an autumn leaf. "Just show me it! That's all I came here for. I'm not here to fight you."

"Well, since I have no idea what you're talking about…" He jumped up into the air, riding on the wind. "I see no reason why I can't just finish you off for wrecking my house!"

Cercenar ducked as the sword sailed over where his head had been moments ago. He frowned at him. "Touchy."

Ichigo looked around. He was still too close to his house and the other neighbors to use any more powerful attacks. He couldn't risk it. Which meant he had to defeat him at the level he was at now or take this fight further away.

"Ichigo!"

He looked down and saw Nathan standing below him on the sidewalk. "What are you doing here? Get back inside!" Nathan was defenseless and an open target. He could be easily killed by a stray attack at this range.

"Ichigo, look out! Above you!"

"Huh?" Ichigo looked up just in time to see a black cero coming at his head. He flashed away just in time.

"Gotcha!" The Arrancar slammed into him with his boney shoulder and plowed him into a building.

Lucky for him, it was only a garage and no one was inside. He pushed aside a child's bike and some tools and climbed out through the newly made hole. He looked around and saw the Arrancar standing in front of Nathan.

"Like hell!" Ichigo hurried.

The Arrancar looked Nathan over carefully. "Now who are you? You don't look like any Soul Reaper I've seen and you certainly aren't human. So what are you exactly?"

Nathan was too scared to move. He had never been this close to an Arrancar before. "I'm… just a soul… in a gigai…"

"That's it?" He started laughing. "Then you aren't worth my time." He raised his hand.

At that moment, Ichigo slammed into him and smashed him to the street. "Nathan, I told you to get out of here!" Ichigo kept his sword on the enemy as he spoke.

"But I can't let you fight alone! He's powerful!"

"Yeah, but I've faced worse."

Cercenar climbed out of the hole formed from the attack and put his hand on his own weapon. "I'll kill you, you son of a…" He suddenly stopped and shot a look down at his wrist. He scoffed and looked back at Ichigo and Nathan. "We'll have to finish this some other time."

He vanished.

"Hey, wait!" It was too late by the time Ichigo got those words out. He was already gone. Ichigo then turned his attention back to Nathan. "You idiot! I told you to stay inside! What if an attack hit you? You could have been killed!"

"And so could you!"

"Nathan, I've been trained to handle these kinds of things. You haven't. I don't want to see you get hurt. The last time something like this had happened, I wasn't able to save you!"

Back the first time they had met, Ichigo had failed to protect Nathan at least twice. Once when Ukitake was possessed and choked him half to death, and the other during their final fight against Rodger when he was impaled by Rodger's horns. Nathan was almost dead. But Ichigo managed to save him from the brink of death by allowing Nathan to feed off of his Spirit Energy in order to sustain himself until he could be healed. Ichigo couldn't let that happen again on his behalf.

"But you were facing off against a powerful Arrancar. I couldn't let you face him by yourself."

"But what if the worst should happen? You were half dead the last time something like this happened. You didn't see the look on Rosalia's face when she thought you were gone. And that was before it had time to fully sink in. Don't be so quick to throw yourself into danger in order to help me. I can handle myself. That guy wasn't that strong."

"Maybe not. But what about the other one? What if he had shown up?"

"What other one?"

Nathan gave a quick look around as if he excepted him to show up at that moment. "When I informed the Soul Society about the sighting, I told them that I saw at least two of them. Ichigo, you were only aware of one. What if the second had shown up and tried a sneak attack? I was trying to keep a look out for him in case he showed up while you were busy. While you fought, I would be the eyes in the back of your head to warn you in case something happened."

Ichigo stopped and gave a soft sigh. "Then thanks for watching my back. But next time-"

"Ichigo!" Rukia ran down the street over to them. "What happened here?"

"Some Arrancar smashed into my house and nearly killed my sister!"

Rukia looked at the hole in the wall. "Right here?"

"Well, duh! How could you miss it?" Ichigo pointed to the ten foot high hole exposing his whole kitchen to the outside world. Glass and wood was everywhere and half the kitchen counter was missing. Rubble was still falling from the ceiling in small fragments and puffs of dust.

"I'm just saying!" Rukia took out her phone. "I have to notify the Captain at once about this. In the meantime, we were right to come here. Looks like they're targeting something here in the World of the Living."

"Yeah, that guy did say something about it. Any idea what it is?"

"Not a clue." She didn't look at him. "In the meantime, you should go check on your family. Make sure they're alright. And Nathan, you stay close to Ichigo, ok?"

"Sure thing."

Please review! More Arrancars to come! ^-^