Author's Note: Hi! I'm sooo sorry it took so long to upload this chapter, but I did tell you I haven't been feeling too well, plus October's here which means less time for me to write. So from now on I will only be able to update on a weekly basis…if I manage even that, but I'll try for sure. I hope you understand, since it's pretty much out of my hands.

Anyway, some surprises are on the way this chapter, or at least I hope so. While the focus at the beginning is more on suspense, later on humor is the goal, and I really hope you'll have as much fun reading, as I had writing this.

Thanks again to everyone who's reading this story and especially to those who have reviewed it, as I appreciate the comments, and to those who have added it among their favorites or put it on alert. Further comments and opinions are welcome, so don't hesitate to let me know what you think of the story.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Chapter 12 Unpredictable

In Soul Society, even though the sun had set long ago, all the shinigami were busy patrolling Seireitei and Rukongai, making sure no jinin were hiding somewhere, preparing their attack. All the shinigami were searching, with a few exceptions…the ones in the 12th Division were busy otherwise, as usual.

The data that the shinigami who had faced the jinin in battle had sent to Soul Society was all being analyzed in order to come up with a way to defeat them or, preferably, from Kurotsuchi Mayuri's point of view, to regain control of them. Ice was their known weakness but there were only two shinigami with ice type zanpakutous and with Repurika and Hensei's abilities to create more jinin, the odds were not good.

Nemu was considerably distressed to see Mayuri pace restlessly around the lab, pages and pages of reports, data, and analysis in his hands. He seemed crazier than usual, as he couldn't figure out what had gone wrong in the first place to make the jinin interpret two simple rules the way they had. And how could he make them see things differently now, and take them back, so that they wouldn't be destroyed or, worse, so that they wouldn't kill any shinigami or achieve their plan to overthrow the Spirit King.

He remembered the Captain-Commander's words the last time he had been called to report if there had been any progress in finding a way to defeat the jinin. 'When you presented me your idea for this project, you assured me that nothing could go wrong. Now your jinin are running wild and they are a considerable threat to Soul Society and not only. You brought this upon us all, therefore it is your responsibility to find a way out of this.'

Yamamoto had not said what would happen if he couldn't get them out of the mess, but Mayuri was sure it was not going to be good for him. He didn't want to return to the Maggot's Nest*, or worse.

And he just couldn't figure out a way to restrain the jinin. He had not made them incapable of hurting him, because he had thought the rules would be enough. Everything had been made on the assumption that they would follow those rules and Mayuri had not thought possible the fact that they might not, therefore he had no solution that could cover such a situation…

"Mayuri-sama", Nemu dared interrupt her captain's train of thought, "I believe that we might be able to come up with a way to capture the jinin, but in order to do that, we need to find out what it was that made them interpret our rules the way they did."

"And you think I don't know that, you useless and pathetic excuse for a shinigami?" Mayuri replied, annoyed to be pointed out the obvious by none other than his lieutenant, whom he had created. He knew what they had to do, he just couldn't pinpoint what had triggered the whole disaster.

"Perhaps it is because of the fact that you also endowed the jinin with…"

"SHUT UP!!!" Mayuri screamed at her, while backslapping Nemu across the face. "I believe I have forbidden anyone in this laboratory to speak of that. It is NOT because of it that things have gone so bad. It can't be…I made sure…" he was once more lost in thoughts.

Nemu decided it was wiser not to say anything this time. It was clear that Kurotsuchi Mayuri was not going to listen to anyone in his present mood…but then again, maybe he would never listen.

*****

At the 1st division headquarters, the Captain-Commander was also having a conversation with his lieutenant.

"I have to take into consideration all the possibilities", Yamamoto was explaining to Sasakibe. "I am well aware of the fact that we have fewer skilled shinigami here after sending most of them off to Hueco Mundo and the real world, not to mention assigning some of the best to the Zero Division as well as to the Central 46 after the Winter War ended. However, we have to prevent the jinin from reaching the Royal Dimension at all costs, so should it become necessary, I too will join the battle."

The lieutenant pondered those words and replied: "It is true that from the information we have received, the jinin are most likely hiding in Hueco Mundo, but we cannot be completely sure of that fact, nor can we assume that they will remain there. Also, if the jinin's plan is to overthrow the Spirit King, will they not need the King's Key? And you are the only one who knows its location, therefore you should not leave Seireitei, Yamamoto-Soutaichou. The jinin will probably come after you."

"You are assuming the jinin will need the King Key to reach the Royal Dimension. Kurotsuchi Mayuri has assumed a lot of things about them as well, and that is what has lead to the situation we are presently in. These creatures are evolving, and they can already use Garganta. What is to say they will not find a way to reach the King without the Key?" Yamamoto asked, his long eyebrows rising slightly. "If we are to consider every possible scenario, this is something we should take into account. And then it might actually become necessary for me to go to the Royal Dimension myself, to make sure no one reaches the King."

"Sir, are you suggesting we should split up further and ensure increased protection in the Royal Dimension?" Sasakibe asked, his light amber eyes narrowing. "I agree that we should take this scenario into account, but how likely is it to occur? Even the traitor Aizen needed the Key to reach the King, are we to assume the jinin have surpassed him?" His voice held just a hint of doubt and concern.

"You are forgetting that when Kurotsuchi-taichou designed them, he had already had his data on the Winter War and all that it involved." Yamamoto answered, opening one of his eyes. "He gave the jinin power so that they could face even Aizen, and he gave them powers from all the species he has studied so far. I also have the feeling he is hiding something from me related to the jinin. In any case, we cannot be wrong in assuming we are only beginning to see the powers the jinin have, and in that case the scenario we were discussing is quite probable", Yamamoto explained calmly, although it was clear from the fact that he had now opened both eyes that he was seriously concerned about the situation.

"In any case," the Captain-Commander continued, "I will hold a meeting with the remaining captains in order to discuss whether to increase the security of the Spirit King by splitting our numbers again and sending some of them to the Royal Dimension."

Sasakibe understood that the discussion was over and that he was to let the other captains know of the meeting. Politely, he took his leave and left the Captain-Commander alone with his thoughts.

*****

At the 4th division headquarters, things were peaceful. Fortunately, since the war had ended, there hadn't been many shinigami in need of healing except for those involved in minor accidents. For things to continue that way despite the threat of the jinin was perhaps a bit too much to hope for, but Unohana Retsu did hope nonetheless.

She was seated at her desk, while absentmindedly playing with her long braid, when she felt her lieutenant approaching. "What news, Isane? Any sign of the jinin?"

"No, taichou, I am sorry to say that we could not find them. They do not appear to be here, although we know they have faced the others in battle in both Hueco Mundo and the real world." Isane said.

"You are worried by what Soi Fon's agent reported, are you not, Isane?" Unohana asked, gently.

They have had news about the battles not only from the real world, but from Hueco Mundo as well, due to the fact that Urahara Kisuke had reluctantly agreed to teach only one shinigami – who was to keep the secret – how to use Garganta. While the fact that he consented to do such a thing for free might have surprised some, those who knew him better were well aware that when the circumstances demanded, Urahara could be very selfless. He had trained Ukitake on the same day when the shinigami had split in teams and left for their assigned destinations.

So after the initial battle with the jinin, the 13th division captain had made an opening through which one of Soi Fon's agents had returned to Soul Society to report the news to the Captain-Commander and the other captains who had remained there.

Unohana had passed on the information she had received at the captain's meeting to her lieutenant, knowing that Isane would want to have news from her sister Kiyone.

"I admit that I am, taichou", Isane replied, a worried look on her face. "My sister is always so full of energy and wants to be most useful to her captain, which makes me afraid that she will do something reckless."

"I don't think there's any need to worry, Isane. Your sister knows to take care of herself, and there are many skilled captains and lieutenants there, and they will work together to fight off the jinin."

"Hopefully it will be…"

Isane never got to finish her sentence, as both she and the captain felt several reiatsu flaring up, among which those of the 7th division captain Komamura and his lieutenant Iba. The discussion would have to be left for some other time. The jinin were there.

At the same time when the two shinigami of the 4th division had felt the increase in reiatsu, the 3rd division captain, Kira, felt it as well, and so did Sasakibe who froze in place, all thoughts about the captain's meeting forgotten. Behind the door through which the 1st division lieutenant had just left, the Captain-Commander felt the reiatsu as well, and rose from his chair.

*****

All the jinin were now facing the shinigami from the 7th division, who were patrolling the area in which they had breached Soul Society. They were fourteen now, as Repurika and Hensei had made four more copies. Still, they were greatly outnumbered as all the shinigami were arriving at the scene, surrounding them. Mahi Itami smiled excitedly.

*****

In the real world, the night was about to bring other type of confrontations, though not less violent. Ichigo and Rukia had just gone upstairs, happy that Yoruichi had decided not to delay them any longer. It had been a long day, full of emotions. And somehow, they had made their relation public. Rukia had a few words to say about that, therefore she followed Ichigo into his room.

"Ichigo, I didn't want to talk to you about this until we were back and could talk privately, but now that we're finally here, I'd really like to know why you let everyone at school know about our…relationship." The word was still foreign to her and that was just another reason why she knew they should have kept the secret.

"Well, why not?" Ichigo said, though his voice was rather defensive than bold this time. "Why should we hide it? You were the one who suggested that I try to live a normal life, and it's very normal for a guy my age to have a…girlfriend". Ichigo was also having difficulties using such words in regards to Rukia.

"Of course I want you to enjoy a normal and peaceful life", Rukia said reassuringly, coming near him and squeezing his hand. "But our relationship is not something everyone will approve of, and we will now have a lot of explaining to do."

"Look, I don't really care who approves of this or not." Ichigo said frankly, as the only persons he could think of to fit in that category was Byakuya, and he actually derived pleasure from pissing him off, and Renji, who he thought was just overprotective of Rukia, having been her friend for so long. He didn't think even for one second that Renji's feelings for Rukia were much stronger than that, nor did he realize the feelings Orihime had for him.

"You went to Soul Society as a baby, you didn't have any real experience in this world, and I'm determined to make up for that. I want you to see how things would have been if we'd both have been human and really have met at school", Ichigo said fiercely.

Rukia felt herself close to tears at those words, as she herself had thought about that hundreds of time since she had met him. She couldn't really grasp the fact that those dreams would come true now…it was too much.

And true to her thoughts, before she could get carried away any further, she felt Byakuya approaching the hotel really fast, his reiatsu at such high level that she felt her knees shaking. "Oh no", she whispered.

*****

When Byakuya entered the Shinigami hotel, Yoruichi was blocking the stairs, while Urahara was playing receptionist again, in a very relaxed manner. However, they were both watching the 6th division captain with a lot of interest.

"We have decided to take breaks in turns, in order to rest", Byakuya informed the two. "However, those from the 11th division seemed somewhat disappointed that the jinin were not to be found and decided to keep on looking for them a while longer. I, on the other hand, have business here."

At that, Byakuya took a few steps forward until he was almost at arm's length from Yoruichi, a startling fact in itself, since the haughty captain usually preferred to keep a wide area of personal space between him and the others.

"Move", he told Yoruichi, his blue eyes piercing into her amused, golden ones.

"Where are you going, Little Byakuaya?" Yoruichi asked, unimpressed with Byakuya's cold and straight to the point words. She was smiling mischievously as she continued her questioning: "You wouldn't happen to want to start a fight with a certain orange headed customer of mine, would you?"

"What I do is of no concern to you", he replied loftily. "Move!"

Yoruichi was grinning towards Urahara, feeling like she had won the bet already. She was about to move aside, when she felt Ichigo and Rukia coming down the stairs behind her. They must have thought it better to come and confront him themselves rather than wait for him to come looking for them, Yoruichi thought.

She wondered if it had been Rukia's idea or Ichigo's, and decided it must have been Ichigo's; he was the type of guy who had no problem fighting, especially if something as important as his relationship with Rukia was at stake. But then she realized they must have taken the decision together, since now they had admitted to the others and to themselves that they loved each other and were going to be together for the rest of their existence…Well, they hadn't admitted all that yet, but she was sure that's how they felt.

"I see everyone is bent on going up these stairs or coming down, so I guess I will move", she said sweetly, joining Urahara at the reception desk. This was going to be a show too good to miss, even if the hotel was going to come down on them all.

Rukia and Ichigo went down the rest of the stairs and then stopped in the spot where Yoruichi had been a moment ago. Two pairs of eyes, one amber, flaming with determination, and one violet-blue, inexpressive but for a slight vulnerability, confronted a third one, ice-cold blue and smoldering with restrained emotions.

Not a word was spoken and yet hundreds of unspoken messages passed in between them. Rukia was trying to convey to Byakuya how much she really loved Ichigo, trying to make him see that he was very important to her and that he was a wonderful person whom anyone would be proud to be close to, even a Kuchiki.

Ichigo was silently screaming his love for Rukia in Byakuya's face, telling him how irrevocably she had changed his life for the better and how he would never be separated from her. He dared the captain to object, to say so much as a negative word, and he would fight with all his might to defend his relationship with Rukia.

Byakuya started to open his mouth, maybe to utter that negative word which would have pushed Ichigo over the edge and made him attack. Seeing that, Rukia instinctively sought out Ichigo's hand who, unsurprisingly, was reaching for hers, and their fingers entwined while waiting for Byakuya's condemnation and disapproval. Neither of them expected blessings, because they weren't likely to come their way. However, it wasn't impossible either, and that's why both of them had a very frail hope buried deep in their hearts that maybe, maybe Byakuya was going to approve at this after all.

Yoruichi and Urahara had both leaned forward, in their excitement to see what the formidable captain's reaction would be. But before Byakuya could form even the first word that he was about to say, something as unpredictable as a summer rain happened.

Someone burst through the hotel's doors. And not just anybody. It was Kurosaki Isshin.

"Ichigooooo, my son, I'm so glad to see you!" Isshin screamed at the top of his lungs when seeing Ichigo at the end of that great hall. He was smiling widely as he started to walk towards Ichigo, oblivious to the fact that Yoruichi and Urahara had sweat dropped and were watching him with incredulity written all over their faces. Nor did he appear to notice that Byakuya was looking at him as he would look at the lowest of insects, but the 6th division captain was not surprised about that.

After the Winter War, at a captain's meeting, the subject of why Kurosaki Ichigo seemed to have been and continued to be of interest to many, including Aizen, had been discussed. It was clear to all the captains that the Captain-Commander knew a lot more than what he was saying, and he wasn't saying much. He simply said that the interest in Kurosaki Ichigo was due to his lineage and that he couldn't reveal any more.

Byakuya had been intrigued about that ever since before that, so he had even sent one of the more trustworthy servants of the Kuchiki Clan to the real world, to find out as much as he could about the Kurosaki family. The servant had returned with the information that Ichigo's mother was dead, while his father seemed to be a doctor at a private clinic and pretty much a buffoon. However, there was more to him than appeared at first sight, and in reality Kurosaki Isshin was a shinigami.

The source of that information was as reliable as could be under the circumstances, meaning Urahara Kisuke, who no doubt had offered the information, under a promise of absolute confidentiality, at Yoruichi's advice, who surely knew Byakuya would have difficulties understanding the situation. And Byakuya had found this information very hard to understand indeed. While he didn't doubt the truth of it, he couldn't think of any reason why a shinigami was permanently staying in the real world. It was usually against the law, but this must have been an exception. But again, why? What could have been important enough to grant such an exception?

Byakuya had not managed to come up with an answer, since he lacked essential information which might have been found, he thought, in the Daireishokairo*. However, the access to that library was restricted and he could hardly ask for permission to enter it and do research for such personal matters as finding out who Kurosaki Isshin really was.

Realizing that investing further effort into solving the mystery would only waste his time, he had given it up. But now, when he was finally at close range from the object of that interest, all he wanted to do was for the man to leave him alone so that he could solve his business with his sister and Kurosaki Ichigo.

In any case, he expected Isshin to pretend not to see him, as he had information that he was hiding his identity from his own family and Ichigo was present at that moment. Therefore, he addressed his sister in a quiet tone: "Rukia, I expect you in my room as soon as possible. We have to talk. Deal with this promptly." Having said that, he was about to proceed to his room when the unexpected happened again.

Like his son before, Isshin grabbed Byakuya's robes. There was a gasp from every single person in the room except for the two involved, but Byakuya did turn his head to face Isshin, mild surprise that the man had not only revealed the fact that he could see him, but had dared touch him as well. His face also said that he now considered insolence a Kurosaki family trait, at least on its male side.

"Who are you and why exactly are you inviting my third daughter to your room?" Isshin said, cantankerously.

Byakuya was further surprised to hear the man talk so casually of his sister. Rukia, though shocked and having a déjà-vu moment of the time when Ichigo had almost lost his hand due to a similar gesture towards Byakuya, moved faster than she thought she could and took Isshin's hand in her own.

"Ano, Kurosaki-san, this is my brother, Kuchiki Byakuya. He just came to visit me, so there's no need to worry. Nii-sama", Rukia continued, trying to maintain the appearance of normality in that completely unnatural moment, "this is Ichigo's father, Kurosaki Isshin."

Neither of the two gave any sign that they have acknowledged the introductions, while measuring each other up. However, Byakuya had no intention of interacting with the man, not in that moment, not in that place. "As I said, Rukia, I will have a word with you later." He left then, without looking back even once, but he did throw a piercing look toward Ichigo, who was still in shock.

Ichigo really didn't know what had happened. He had come down ready to face Byakuya in battle if necessary and just when he was about to find out what Rukia's brother thought of the new status of his relationship with her, his father of all people had shown up. And he could see Byakuya despite the fact that the 6th division captain was not in a gigai. How had that happened? His father was the only one in the family who couldn't see or sense spirits.

On the other hand, Ichigo had always found it strange that his father was the only exception in the family…well, his mother hadn't been able to see spirits either, but still…weren't things like this supposed to be hereditary? It seemed so, since Isshin could definitely see shinigami now. However, it seemed like he didn't know he was seeing them. From his following words, it was very obvious that Isshin thought Byakuya was just an ordinary man….well, maybe not that ordinary, as nobility and pride was rolling off him in waves, but human nonetheless.

"I don't care that he's Rukia's brother, I don't like that man's attitude", Isshin grumbled.

Urahara and Yoruichi, still upset that they couldn't tell which of them had won the bet, couldn't keep it up very long since they knew it wasn't Isshin's fault that he came at such a bad time.

They eventually smiled at each other and Urahara said: "Too bad for the interruption, I was sure I'd win and then I'd get to see if you survived telling Byakuya that Ichigo had thoroughly compromised his sister. Even though it's not true – at least I think it's not true – I am sure he would have been annoyed enough to believe it and then he would have gone bankai on you first, and on Ichigo later. Even you might have had to use your long forgotten zanpakutou to be able to fight him off."

"Nah, I would have won the bet and would have seen you deal with Byakuya. And a few more corrections to your statements: my zanpakutou is not forgotten, I just prefer to fight otherwise, and I would not need to use it to handle Little Byakuya. Why, he wouldn't even be able to catch me in order to fight me." Yoruichi said, smug.

"I think we'll still have some entertainment from this situation though", Urahara said.

"Right, let's watch", Yoruichi said with a wink.

"Oyaji, what are you doing here?" Ichigo said, still baffled.

"What do you mean, my son? What kind of father would I be if I would not check on my adolescent son when he runs off with his beautiful girlfriend?!?" Isshin asked, with a thrilled look in Rukia's direction, who, after making the introductions, seemed to have gone back into shock. In reality, she was just thinking about the same thing as Ichigo, which was why Isshin was suddenly able to see shinigami. What could have triggered it?

Ichigo, from habit, was about to say that it was nothing like that and deny that Rukia was his girlfriend, but then he realized that it was not the case anymore, so he argued the only point he had left: "I did not run off with Rukia! I thought we told you we are having a study group here, and how come you knew we were staying here anyway?"

That was what Ichigo wanted to know most of all, because his father might have not realized that something was out of place – or rather, out of that world – but that wasn't going to hold for long if he saw other shinigami and noticed things like, let's say, their zanpakutous. There was no way even his father would consider that normal.

"Well, my son, I went to a shop which was recently opened in town and which specializes in medical equipment. On my way back, I just happened to see you and Rukia-chan entering this building and I thought I'd pay you a visit and see how your studying is going." Isshin replied as if it should have been the obvious answer. It also sounded a bit too perfect, which made Ichigo suspicious that his father had found out about the Shinigami Hotel otherwise, and used the medical shop as an excuse.

"There was no need to do that", Ichigo argued, nervous about his father being there, where another shinigami could come in – or come down, like Hinamori or Hitsugaya – at any moment and make Isshin suspicious. "We're doing fine, studying hard, and we'd like to go back to our homework now."

"How cruel you are to me, my son, when I have missed you and Rukia-chan sooo much!" Isshin complained.

"Missed us? What were we gone for? Like two seconds?" Ichigo mumbled.

Isshin decided to ignore his comment and said: "Since I'm here, how about you two give me a tour of the place?"

Rukia, a bit desperate about where the discussion was going, said: "Kurosaki-san, these are Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi, the landlords of this place. I am afraid they have put a curfew…" she ignored Yoruichi's laughter at that point, "…and therefore no visits should be made after a certain hour. Maybe we could show you around some other day". Her voice was very solicitous.

"Rukia, my dear third daughter, I am so happy that you are so willing to obey the rules, and my regards to the landlords", he inclined his head to the amused couple at the reception desk, "for not letting you kids run wild, but who knows when I'll get to visit again?" Isshin said, dramatically. "Ichigo, you know daddy's working in a clinic, facing life and death situation on a daily basis, if I don't take this chance to see the hotel, I might never have another one".

"Aren't your patients the ones in life and death situations?" Ichigo mumbled again, while Rukia fretted, not able to come up with any excuse to get Isshin out of there.

"Kurosaki-san", Yoruichi said, "we don't mind if the kids show you around, we'd love you to see our hotel, we are very proud of it."

"But of course", Urahara added, smiling.

"See?" Isshin said to Ichigo and Rukia. "We have the landlords' permission. Lead the way, my children!" He spread his arms expansively, waiting for either of the two to begin the tour. And he waited…and waited…For a full minute no one moved or said anything. But that wasn't going to deter Kurosaki Isshin when he was excited about something.

"Very well, then I'll let myself in, to discover all these lovely rooms, just waiting to be explored." Isshin said, striding towards the cafeteria. For a moment, neither Ichigo nor Rukia had any reaction, but then Urahara's voice reached them: "Yare, yare*, it seems like Kurosaki-san will run into our friends Rangiku, Renji and Orihime, who are all drunk in the cafeteria."

"What? Dru…." Ichigo had started screaming, but Rukia reached up to cover his mouth before he could say the compromising word.

"We'll have time for questions later, now we have to stop him!" she said quickly, then she ran after Isshin and blocked his path, just as he was about to reach for the doorknob.

"Kurosaki-san, there is really nothing interesting to see in there." She was using her "sweet" voice again, and hoping that Ichigo's father would not be suspicious of her. "I am certain you will find the apartments more interesting. They are very large and quite artfully decorated".

Rukia indicated the direction of the stairs, hoping Isshin would take the hint. Unfortunately, he didn't. "I'd love to see them, of course, but what's in here?" he asked.

"Just the cafeteria, dad", Ichigo said, coming next to Rukia to block his father's entrance. "There's one at your clinic too, and this one's in no way more special."

"But this is a hotel," Isshin insisted, "surely they have a lovely cafeteria that is way beyond the one at my clinic. I'd love to see it."

Rukia had just started to open her mouth to argue with that statement when, like her brother before, she was interrupted by a person bursting through a set of doors. In this case though, it was Matsumoto Rangiku, still as drunk as could be, bursting through the cafeteria doors with a bemused expression on her face.

"Ichigoooo….Rukiaaaa….join the paaaaarty!" she said in a gleeful tone, slurring the words. Rukia wondered 'What is this, déjà-vu day?'as she had just had a flashback of the time when she and Renji had found Matsumoto and Kira drunk at the 3rd division headquarters, back in Soul Society. She didn't have too much time to dwell on that thought because Matsumoto was definitely in a talkative mood.

"I thiiink there's stiiill oooooone bottle left if Renji and Orihime didn't driiiink it aaaaall." To Ichigo and Rukia's chagrin, not only did the drunk lieutenant revealed that 'minors' – because as far as they knew, Isshin thought Renji was underage too – had been drinking alcohol in there, she was actually carrying a half-full bottle herself, which she was now presenting for all to see, much to Urahara and Yoruichi's amusement, who had come closer to see what was going to happen next. "Thiiis oooooone's miiiine!!! I'm not shaaaring".

By now Urahara was grinning widely behind his fan, while Yoruichi was bent, and she was holding her stomach, laughing violently, completely ruining the first good impression they had made on Ichigo's father.

But Matsumoto was not done. She had looked beyond the frozen statues that Ichigo and Rukia had become and had noticed Isshin, who seemed unable to decide whether he was supposed to be amused by the whole deal or outraged. Of course Matsumoto was completely unaware of the fact that she was not in a gigai and that the man in front of her was supposed to be just that, a human man, who shouldn't have been able to see her.

"Well, loooook what we have heeeere." she said. "What's a fiiiine man like yourseeeeelf doing with these kiiiids?" She wrapped the hand with which she was holding the bottle around Isshin's neck and winked at him. "Why don't you jooooin a reaaaal woman, and we'll have some fuuuun…." That's as far as she got out after which she simply fell asleep, in Isshin's arms.

Ichigo finally snapped out of it and, with some effort, took Matsumoto out of his father's arms and shoved her towards Yoruichi and Urahara. Yoruichi was laughing even harder now, so she couldn't have caught the sleeping lieutenant, but Urahara managed to catch Matsumoto, and, reluctantly, he half carried, half dragged her up the stairs.

He was back soon enough though, just as Rukia came to her senses as well. And it was not a moment too soon, as Isshin seemed to have made up his mind how to react to all that: righteous parental indignation.

Rukia tried to prevent him from speaking as she quickly improvised what she hoped was a credible story: "Kurosaki-san, this is not what it looks like. Orihime and Renji are not even in the cafeteria, they are upstairs, studying!" She was using a very persuasive tone. "That woman was Matsumoto Rangiku, she is a cousin of Orihime and she just came to visit, like you did yourself."

Not being able to improvise too much, for fear of making a mistake, Rukia decided on telling a bit of truth: "We don't know the details, but it seems like she recently lost someone she cared for, and although what she did is not right, she must have decided alcohol was the only way in which she could forget."

Ichigo decided it was the case for him to support Rukia's story, so he added: "Oyaji, you can hardly blame her for it, but in any case, none of us is having any alcohol so you can relax."

Isshin did not seem convinced. "My son, when you told me you wanted to move away I suspected that it was a life of drinking and partying and having fun with Rukia-chan that you were looking for, and this incident only served to enforce my opinion. But if my sweet third daughter says that it's not like that…", Rukia made sure Isshin saw her nodding approvingly, "then I'll believe it."

Both Ichigo and Rukia were relieved and sighed quietly. They were even happier to hear Isshin continue: "I think I saw enough of the hotel for today. But I'll come back another day! And if I do find out that you were actually drinking and partying instead of studying, then the least you could do is present me with a positive pregnancy test."

With that, Isshin left, leaving behind four people, two of them red faced and beyond words with embarrassment and outrage, and two who were having a renewed laughing fit. Altogether it had been a way too unpredictable day…and it was not over yet.

*Maggot's Nest or Nest of Maggots is the prison located on the grounds of the 2nd division, where potentially dangerous shinigami are being kept under lock.

*Daireishokairo means Great Spirit Library

*Yare, yare is the Japanese equivalent of the English "my, my"

Author's Note: So, did you have fun reading? I hope you're not too upset that neither Urahara nor Yoruichi won the bet, but then again, Byakuya probably has enough issues to settle with Ichigo and Rukia, he doesn't need those two teasing him as well, right?

In any case, the title of the next chapter is "Bad Luck", and while I'm not particularly superstitious, I thought that would be fit for chapter 13 lol. I won't say what it's about though, you'll have to read and find out yourselves, and I hope you'll be able to do that by this Sunday. Can't promise I'll upload it for sure by then, though. Whenever it will be, until we meet again, have a great time! Bye.