The Stolen Soul

Disclaimer-I do not own Bleach, or any of the related characters, concepts, or anything else.

Authors Note-Been a long time since I wrote fanfiction of any sort. I'm looking forward into trying it again, with a nice fresh start. I hope all of you enjoy this story, and if you don't, for some silly reason, then I shall thank you for at least giving it a chance. For this fic I'll be using some of the japenese terms, like shinigami instead of soul reaper, or reiatsu in place of spirit energy. But when it comes to things like names and ranks I'll be using the dub version. Just my preference I'm afraid. Anyway, all that said, lets us begin!

Not a Night For Smiling

Ryuuken allowed himself a small smile as he walked down the hallway of the Karakura Town Hospital. He rarely smiled in his day to day life. There was little reason to do so most days. As a Doctor he spent a great deal of time struggling to save peoples lives. Most of the time he succeeded. He didn't smile on those occasions however. The stress of knowing that whether a person would live or die depended entirely on how well he could do his job left him far to tired for such things.

Then there were those times when he failed to save a life. Those times left him worse than tired. On those days he felt utterly drained. Without the support of his wife, Kanae, he wasn't sure he would be able to keep his sanity intact during those times.

But tonight he felt neither tired nor drained, and there was all the reason in the world to smile. Tonight had seen the birth of his son, Uryuu Ishida. Even now in the earliest hours of the morning as his wife slept, Ryuuken smiled and walked towards the nursery where his son also slept.

He was so focused on that goal that he almost didn't notice the figure in the hall ahead of him, staring through the window into the nursery with a little smile of his own.

Ryuuken blinked in surprise. "Isshin?"

The other man turned towards him with a warm smile. "Ryuuken! I didn't know you were working tonight."

"Keep your voice down." Ryuuken hissed. "Those young babies need their rest."

The other man scratched the back of his head and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"Forget it." Ryuuken said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Besides, I'm not working tonight."

"Really?" Isshin asked.

"Really." Ryuuken frowned. "More importantly, why are you here?"

"Huh?" Isshin blinked. "I'm surprised you don't already know."

"Why would I know what you do with you're time?" Even as he asked the question a thought occurred to Ryuuken, and his eyes widened. "Wait a minute! You mean to tell me Masaki's had a child?"

"Aha! So you did know after all!" Isshin exclaimed.

"I thought I told you to keep your voice down." Ryuuken glared at the former Shinigami, who merely offered him a sheepish smile in response. "Anyway, I didn't know, but its easy to guess. Why else would you be standing here at the nursery with such a look on your face."

"Maybe I simply enjoy looking at cute babies." Isshin countered.

"Thats an absurdly creepy thing to say." Even as he spoke, Ryuuken turned his gaze towards the nursery. It took only a moment to spot Masaki's child. The small tuft of orange hair was hard to miss, though it was the positioning of the eyes that truly gave it away.

Isshin followed Ryuuken's gaze and smiled again. "I see you've spotted him already. As I'd expect from a guy like you. A quincy like you would need sharp eyes after all." Isshin paused, his face contorting into what Ryuuken guessed was supposed to be a thoughtful expression. "Although now that I think on it, maybe its your glasses that make your eyes so sharp. Its kinda funny thinking of an archer who needs glasses though."

Ryuuken felt his eye twitch. "I assure you that even without these glasses I can see better than you can."

Isshin ignored the remark. "Anyway, you still haven't told me why you're here."

The doctor blew out a long sigh. "Of all the people who might have saved Masaki why did it have to be someone so dense. Can't you figure it out on your own without being told?"

Isshin thought it over for just a moment, then shook his head. "Sorry, I got nothin'."

Ryuuken resisted the urge to make further comments on Isshin's intelligence, or lack thereof. Instead he said "I'm here for the same reason you are."

Isshin frowned. "To see my little Ichigo?"

Ryuuken's eye twitched again. "No, I'm here to see my son, Uryuu."

"What!?" Isshin's eyes went wide as he gaped in astonishment. "You had a kid too!? What a coincidence that our kids were born at the same time!"

Ryuuken's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he felt a faint heat buildig in the quincy cross that dangled from his right wrist. "This is the third time I've had to tell you to keep your voice down. I will not repeat myself again."

"Sorry." Isshin said yet again. "Its just such an exciting event don't you think."

Ryuuken did not say it out loud, but he was in agreement with the one time shinigami. That not only his wife, but also the young women to him he had almost married years ago, had both given birth at the same time was a great coincidence, and gave Ryuuken even greater reason to smile then before.

There was a time when he would have felt remorseful over the way things had ended between him and Masaki. But in the end things had turned out all right, hadn't they? The events that he lead to his seperation from Masaki had seemed like hell itself at the time. But if those events had not trnaspired he would never have gotten the chance to express his love for Kanae. How could he ever feel grief for that?

"I'll bet our sons are destined to have great adventures with each other!" Isshin prattled on.

"That is utterly Ridic-" Ryuuken was cut off mid sentence as his senses registered a flash of Reiatsu. It lasted only for an instant, gone so quickly that Isshin seemed not to notice. But Ryuuken had felt it. Swirling about him like a heavy fog, incredibly powerful.

More disturbing than its power or texture however, was its nature. It was not the hungry reiatsu of a hollow he had just felt, but instead that of a shinigami.

Ryuuken quickly tuned Isshin's babbling and focused his senses. As a pure Quincy he was extremely skilled at detecting Reiatsu. In seconds he located the power he had felt. Whoever it was, they were doing a good job holding in their power, but there was just enough for Ryuuken to detect. His eyes widened in alarm as he felt that reiatsu suddenly change course. It was heading directly for the hospital.

No sooner had he realised this than a figure wrapped in shadow seemed to melt through the back wall of the nursery.

"What the hell!?" It seemed even Isshin was able to notice that.

The figure glanced up at them. Its figure was distorted. Ryuuken thought he caught a glimpse of glasses, but light tself seemed to bend all around the intruder making him all but impossible to see.

There was a moment of absolute stillness. Nothing seemed to move. There wasn't a sound to be heard, other than the beating of his own heart. Then, much to his horror, Ryuuken watched the figure walk directly to Ichigo and scoop the young child of Masaki Kurosaki out of his crib.

"HEY!" Isshin's voice came out with such rage that Ryuulen could have sworn he felt the former shinigami's once formidable reiatsu resonating within the soundwaves from the shout.

Even as that thought crossed his mind he watched, dumbfounded, as Isshin voilently hurled himself into the window seperating nursery from hallway with such force that it seemed to explode.

"You idiot!" Ryuuken shouted. He suddenly found that he no longer cared about keeping his, or Isshin's, voice down at this time.

He sprang through a cascade of falling glass and reached out with his quincy powers. With an exxertion of will he asserted his control ver the reishi in the air and gathered it to himself. In an instant a bow formed from tightly condensed spirit particles formed in his hand, and a quick flurry of low powered quincy arrows deflected all of the falling glass away from the sleeping infants.

Well, formerly sleeping, Ryuuken ammended. The nursery came alive with the sound of babies crying out in terror as their sleep was interrupted.

Paying neither Isshin or Ryuuken any mind, the figure turned and walked back towards the wall through which he had entered.

"Stop!" Isshin was already on his feet and charging. Ryuuken wasn't really sure what happened next. One moment Isshin was on his feet, fist pulled back to smash the person who would dare try to steal his son, and the next he was falling backwards with blood spraying from his chest.

The shadow turned away from his would be attacker, and passed through the wall just as easily as he had when he entered.

With a grimace, Ryuuken charged towards the wall. He threw a quick glance at Isshin as he shot past, taking careful note of the thin yet deep wound that stretched across his chest.

So he had been slashed with a sword. Ryuuken felt a little disturbed by that. He hadn't seen the shadow draw a sword at all. He hadn't seen anything.

This was bad. He was getting in over his head here. He had no idea what he was up against, or what the enemies capabilities were. All he did know was that the enemy was probably a shinigami, and that they were capable of attacking faster than Ryuuken could detect.

Logic dictated that he didn't stand a chance, and that he should abandon his pursuit now and tend to Isshin instead.

Logic could go screw itself. There was no way Ryuuken would allow Masaki's child to be stolen like this.

A single well placed arrow blasted a hole in the wall just large enough for Ryuuke to leap from the hospital and out into the cold night air. Storm clouds filled the sky, and rain hurled itself down from the heavens in a downpour. In these conditions Ryuuken couldn't see his target, but he could hear little Ichigo's wails.

"There!" Ryuuken thought. A quick burst of Hirenkyaku carried him ahead of his target. The shadow halted as the quincy cut him off, and regarded Ryuuken with what might have been curiosity, though it was hard to tell without being able to see his face.

Not that Ryuuken cared. All he cared about at that moment was that he could hear Masaki's child crying, and it was this mans fault. Reishi gathered from all around him and gathered into his bow until the intesity of its stored power made it quiver.

In an instant Ryuuken could unleash all of it on his foe.

The shadow must have realised Ryuuken's intent, for it raised Ichigo up in front of its chest with both arms.

Ryuuken cursed. There was no way he could fire without risking the life of Masaki's child.

Seeing the quincy's hesitation, the shadow spoke for the first time. "It seems you have realised your situation, Ryuuke Ishida."

Ryuuken frowned. "How is it you know my name?"

"The Ishida family has been of considerable interest to me in the past, although I don't find you to be particularly interesting. Its this child who truly interests me. The offspring of a shinigami and a quincy. I think he sould make a fine test subject."

Ryuuken felt his blood go cold as he heard that. Fury poured through his veins in an icy torrent. "How dare you speak of Masaki's child that way!"

The shadow shifted, and Ryuuken was able to see a pair of lips stretched into an amused smile. "I believe I may speak about him as I wish. After all, I am the reason this child was ever born."

Ryuuken's confusion was not enough to replace his anger, but it was enough for him to ask "What do you mean?"

"There is no need for you to know." The shadow replied.

Before Ryuuken could say anything else, the shadow vanished.

Shunpo!

Ryuuken launched himself to the side with Hirenkyaku. The moment he arrived his bow was already aimed at the spot he had been standing a moment ago. There was nobody there to shoot.

A jolt of pain tore through his entire being, and he could not supress the scream that tore its way from his throat. He looked down, and saw the tip of a katana protruding from his chest.

Then that damned voice spoke from behind him. "Your reflexes are impressive. If this cloak weren't concealing my reiatsu you most likely could have detected my second shunpo in time to avoid my attack. Sadly I don't have time for such games this evening."

The sword tore free from Ryuuken's chest, and he began to fall. As he fell he looked up and finally got a look at the shadows face. Brown hair lightly curled, eyes hidden behind glasses. Even as darkness filled his vision, Ryuuken commitied every detail to memory.

Above him he heard "Farewell, Ryuuken Ishida."

His final thought before passing out was that perhaps tonight was not a night for smiling after all.