Disclaimer: I, thank god, do not own bleach or else I would not hear the end of this with all the Kubo bashing that has been going on lately.

Enjoy!

#3#

"So the Gotei 13 has hauled themselves in the inner ring of the Seireitei." He mused to himself, his brown eyes scanning everything he could see from his position in the sky. He was crouched down, his feet creating a solid platform even while he leisurely tried to take in all the information he could from mapping out this new and half-destroyed Soul Society.

"The Rukongai was pushed back at least 15 districts and the upper echelons of the first district, in other words, the nobles, were brought back to Seireitei along with all the valuable stores and markets. Curious, very curious indeed."

Suddenly, he looked towards his right where an explosion occurred and figured it was part of the everyday happenings of a war. It was near the resistance's base; or at least he thought so. He only had a general idea of where the base was and this was solely because he could sense Ichi's reiatsu in that area. Not like it was hard to find his own reiatsu. Unlike Ichi, who must still be learning the beginnings of the fines of reiatsu control, Ichigo could perfectly control his senses and his very own power. Actually, if he so wanted to, he could become completely inexistent –like right now actually.

Another explosion resounded in the background.

"Looks like their in the middle of a pretty painstaking battle." He murmured to himself, his hand coming to rub his chin thoughtfully as he thought about the possibilities.

"This reiatsu…" he closed his eyes, his senses stretching out to the limit as he tried to decipher the identity of the forces clashing in a dance of destruction. "Shinji is close by but he's not using so much reiatsu. I can also sense Komamura and his lieutenant what's-his-name; both are also fighting but are barely doing any damage. Kensei is also around so Mashiro shouldn't be far behind- oh, there she is. And… Hiyori, Hiyori is also in the epicenter and is actually… creating quite a ruckus and her opponent is-"

He opened his eyes, a sudden chilly wave of reiatsu washing over the entire area like a sudden gush of wind before it disappeared and a giant thing of ice sprung out of nowhere and another explosion resounded.

Well looks like that answered his next question.

"Toshiro is also there. What an odd bunch of people." he contemplated "Hiyori and Toshiro are both battling –might be some midget thing of pride or whatever. Shinji is intercepting Komamura and Kensei is fighting his no-name lieutenant. So that means that Mashiro is on the side lines –typical of her actually."

After a minute of consideration the orange head sighed and hauled himself back to his feet. He absently noticed that Soifon was also arriving onto the battlefield with a bunch of foot soldiers –cannon fodder he thought gingerly. It was sure to get more chaotic, but he had better things to do. Like continue with the plans for his not-a-time-machine –he should really name that thing.

He sighed again as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The more he thought about it, the crazier this world seemed to get. Seriously! What's next, he's going to magically turn into his enemies' best friend…? Actually… that's happened before. He should really shut up now.

God forbid he suddenly becomes Aizen's best pal.

He shivered at the mere thought. Yes, he should really get back to work. So with that last thought in mind he shunpo-ed away from the destruction and flew at top speeds all the way to the 11th district and then into its forest. Once he landed silently in the clearing, he walked up to his withering tree and found himself back at the Shiba safe house.

He quickly entered the premise and went directly to one of the back rooms where he had set up his quasi-lab. The place was dark and unusually somber, filled with metal, wires, equipment, scrolls and blueprints lying around the floor and tables he had procured for the room. He went directly towards his most current project and soon enough immersed himself into the contents as his brain went over complex equations, theories and plans.

He would get this right, even if it killed him.

#3#

Uryuu muttered darkly to himself as he strode up the entrance and towards the door of the resident Kurosaki house. He rang the doorbell for about half a second before getting fed up and grabbing the knob and turning it lightly to see if it was looked. As the door slid easily open, he stomped inside with barely contained fury and marched into the house and down the training ground where Ichigo was bound to be.

He threw the lab door open, scowling harder when he found a faint trace of Ichigo's reiatsu in the room before he prepared a breath of air to shout.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you better have a god damn good excuse for not going to work or so help me I will-!" his words died down his throat as he truly examined the room and felt his blood chill.

"Ichigo?" he called out as he cautiously walked towards the faint shimmer of reiatsu up to a darkened corner. He frowned harder as he noticed that the trail led towards the orange-head's discarded haori on the floor right next to a recently used machine. It was sparking with power –the source of Ichigo's reiatsu most likely- giving a spark every half a minute and blinking dangerously.

Uryuu's brow furrowed further as he scanned the work desk for any clue as to what had happened before his eyes zeroed in on a particular blueprint that was less dusty than the others. He breezed past the unimportant mumbo jumbo about theories and reports that were enclosed with the blueprints before focusing on one of the ending notes and fixtures that seemed to be recently added in what was undeniably Ichigo's neat scrawl.

Dimension jumping probability up to 92% after test no. 274 resulted in minor fluctuations in the environment rather than a warp as would be the case with Time-Travel.

He felt his breath hitch in his throat as he tried to assimilate what he had read in the margin at the top of the newest records –the lack of oil stains and dust said it all. Uryuu tried to concentrate again on the problem at hand as he started to read the details that were underlined at the bottom.

Conclusion: The dimension that opens is in the same attractor field as the one we are currently residing in. Probability of full functionality 69%

Stabilizing the cluster filed will require vast amounts of power source and a proper synchronization with the signature of the power source. If wave length surpasses estimated percentage the current cluster field can suffer slight distortions to-

The raven head shook his head to avoid getting wrapped in further on the negative aspects and pity details he won't even need to process. He discarded the page, reaching to grab the one that was at the very bottom with less writing than the previous ones.

Final update: Stabilization worked to a success rate of 98.76%. Power source tweaked to synchronize with test subject Ichigo's reiatsu to a success rate of 99.98% creating favorable results for actual triumph.

Test subject shall attempt to open an alternate dimension using the same cluster field. High expectations on achievement range.

Results:

By the end of it, he found the results much more frightening than the actual plan. Sure, it was a pretty wacko project to begin with, and rather sophisticated too, now that he thought about it –the possible effects were taken into consideration, as well as the actual success percentage so it was obviously well done and well thought but-

The result was missing, and the test subject as well –why Ichigo called himself a test subject he'll never know. So-

"I'm gonna kill that idiot." He decided in the end, totally discarding the fact that one would have to be a genius to have gone this far in the first place.

#3#

The battlefield was covered in debris, his quick feet more than able to outmaneuver himself away from the obstacles even when his mind didn't completely process the whole destruction. He turned with the force of a tornado, his Khyber knife twirling with his quick fingers as he decapitated another enemy foot soldier and simultaneously cut in half another with his trench knife. He continued on light feet, his expression unreadable as he fought forward in a deceitful dance of unhidden beauty bathed in deep red blood as it splattered against the pavement and completely missed his own robes. He turned again, his steps feather light and lightning quick as he cut down another half a dozen soldiers before executing another roundhouse attack in the other direction half a second later. He throws his trench knife into the air, the pitch black blade spinning in mid-air as he grabs his Khyber knife double handed and makes a horizontal slash while creating a highly powered shock wave that wipes out the entire clearing. He catches his small blade in the nick of time, a downward slash to free his trench knife from red stains as a splatter of blood falls on the ground.

He exhales a tired breath as his surroundings fall silent, not a single enemy in sight either if you don't count the unimaginable amount of corpses on the floor. He closes his tired brown eyes in a foolish attempt to relax his pulsating heart, the rapid beating almost deafening in the depth of the abandoned battlefield as explosions and other battles are miles away. He's about to seal his zanpaktou, a second away from issuing the command inside his head before a cold shiver runs down his spine and he all but twirls around at the speed of light to intercept the enemy attack even as his weary eyes meet tired brown and he finds himself staring into eyes that resemble his own so much, yet belong to the bearer of a smug smile.

If he didn't know any better, if he hadn't already fallen through that path in false belief, he would have thought that this very man was the only person that could truly understand his pain, troubles and power.

Aizen Sosuke wasn't about to fool him once more even without the sharp blade he's wielding going directly for the kill. His eyes say more than his words ever could.

He won't believe his petty words a third time.

"Ichigo…"

The orange haired man wakes up in a sudden fit of gasps for air as he all but throws himself to his feet in an instinctual way to fend off an imaginary enemy. He registers half a minute later of weary glances everywhere that he's not in a bloody battlefield or a grand theater for some mad final battle. He's in his sanctuary, the Shiba safe house to be precise, and a place far, far away from those previous gore filled locations that it should be fiscally impossible.

But it's not, Ichigo reminds himself brusquely as he takes a calm breath of air to fill his lungs with the fresh sense of greenery and peace that reached him even in his lab at the corner of the manor. He's been sent spiraling into an alternate universe where the very sense of his recent nightmare is actually a good guy, something he had thought was the truth with his own universe some time ago, but was forced to open his eyes rather horribly when said man had backstabbed him –quite literally.

However-

"Oh! And Sosuke-Jisan stays to help Uncle Kisuke with their experiments or goes out into battle. But he mostly never has time and stays around base; Uncle Shinji too. Those two used to be captain-subordinate. I find it hard to believe." –he himself asserted that the resident ex- Fifth division captain was a good guy that Kisuke of all people and god forbid Shinji had accepted him into their group. Those two had trust problems the size of Soul Society and Hueco Mundo combined but Aizen was still there and he was permitted to stay. That spoke of volumes of trust coming from those two blondes.

That or they were just as wacko as Aizen in this dimension -could be.

However the mere thought was surreal, let alone it being reality. In the end he really couldn't decide until he saw everything for himself, and if he had any say in things, it would be never. He didn't need to interact with the people from this dimension, and the less of an impact he left was for the better. He didn't want to cause much havoc since he hadn't calculated the results and wanted to avoid and catastrophic outcome.

With that thought in mind he stood up from his chair and stretched his sore muscles before walking out his quasi-lab and into the kitchen areas. He started to heat up some water and look through the cupboards for some food before deciding to make some stir rice. The entire pantry was covered in non-perishable seals that had been perfected as generations of clan heads went by, so he was pretty sure that everything was still in an edible state.

He washed the rice quickly and efficiently before a slight shift in the spiritual energy in the air warned him of an incoming and he thoughtfully added some more rice when he noticed who it was. He put the rice to cook soon after and began chopping the onions, carrots, and other veggies before he noticed that his little visitor had stopped at the entrance of the clearing and seemed stumped as to what to do.

Ichigo sighed while he simultaneously washed his hands and removed the kettle from the fire before walking towards the entrance to grab his sandals and headed towards the 'entrance'. Once he passed the tree he found a small carbon copy of himself crouching down thoughtfully scanning the roots of the tree.

"You know you can just waltz in, right?"

"Woah!" he jumped, landing flat on his butt while peering up to look at the smirking orange head with a glare. "What was that all about?"

"Nothing," Ichigo responds in a heartbeat, almost chipper in a way that gets in Ichi's nerves "I just thought it appropriate to inform you that you can just waltz in."

The small orange head rolls his eyes as he stands up to continue his glare "As if, I tried and ended up right back where I started."

Ichigo merely laughs but doesn't comment on it as he turns around and strolls back inside with his alternate-self in tow. Ichi follows him back inside the cottage and is led towards the kitchen where he can smell something wonderful cooking. He takes a seat in the table while Ichigo goes back to his cooking and absently sniffs the air to get an idea of what is being made.

"Is that… fried rice?"

Ichigo grunts in agreement but concentrates in his task while he lets the little man come to his own conclusions. Once it is clear he won't be starting the conversation on his own will, Ichigo sighs and cuts into the silence with startling efficiency.

"So you came back to see me." A cocky smile curves the corner of his mouth as he glances back to look at the small orange head "Miss me or something?"

The other snorts but doesn't disagree as he observes Ichigo's smooth motions when cooking. "I had nothing better to do." He began "So I thought about swinging by and making sure you hadn't killed yourself or something roaming around like a headless chicken."

Ichigo hums in understanding as he places the veggies in a pan with oil to fry before turning back towards his visitor "I see, and you told someone where you were going before running out?"

Ichi bristled at being treated like a little kid as he bitterly crossed his arms over his chest "I don't need to inform anyone where I'm going." He refuted "Dad is always busy with our medical division and everyone else is too wrapped into their duties." He pauses as if in deep thought before chancing an uncertain glance in the orange head's direction "Mom is the only one that actually has free time to spend with me –or she makes time to spend with me."

Ichigo pauses in his stirring as he hears those words. He tries to not let his shock show and is kinda glad he is looking at his pan and not at Ichi or else he would have needed to explain his surprise. As it is, it takes him about half a minute to release he had stopped before continuing his passive job of stirring the veggies before almost mechanically adding the rice.

"So your Mom won't go looking for you when she notices you're gone?" he asks instead, his voice oddly stable in contrast to his internal turmoil.

"Well," Ichi stretches on "she might get worried and send someone if I'm not back by dusk, but she won't come herself." He pauses thoughtfully as he continues to look inquisitive at the older orange head before adding on "She's pregnant, so she shouldn't be moving around much."

Ichigo almost gets a whiplash as he turns around to stare wide-eyed at the boy "Wait, what?"

"My mom is going to have twins." He explained –again "It's exciting, Ka-san said I have to be a good big brother and protect them."

Ichigo got out of his initial shock and concentrated on his task once again as he added the finishing touches and served the rice in separate plates. He set down when in front of Ichi and one at his seat before bringing the tea kettle and setting it down in the middle with two cups for use.

"You're an only son?" he asks instead, opting to gain subtle information from the mini-version of himself.

"Yes," Ichi affirms as he grabs his chopsticks and digs in tentatively before quickening his pace with renewed gusto once he notices the awesome taste. "My parents didn't want any other kids because of the war but my Mom ended up pregnant and we just recently found out there are two girls in there."

Ichigo hums in understanding as he flickers a glance at the small boy as if trying to read everything there is to know about this alternate-self he has. Ichi returns his stare head on and he instantly knows that this Ichigo isn't stupid either; he's trying to determine who he is too and is done with the subtle game they began with.

"Do you have any siblings?" Ichi decides in the end, and if he hadn't been concentrating on the older orange head to begin with, he would have missed the flicker of surprise.

"Yes," he answers, his lips involuntarily going up as he decides in his course of action "I had twin sisters."

He can almost see the gears working fulltime inside Ichi's head and almost cackles in glee at the enigma he is painting himself to be. He knows the orange head hasn't told anyone else of his existence, and so long as he continues to be a non-threat, he knows it will stay that way. But the only way to assure himself of this outcome is to keep the boy interested and in the loop of things.

Oh well, at least he'll have someone to vouch for him when things undoubtedly go to hell.

"What are the odds?" Ichi says in the end, his smirk curling the corner of his mouth as if the pieces of a giant puzzle are finally slotting themselves in place. "Kurosaki Ichigo," he begins listing "Hybrid –Hollow, Human, Shinigami, Quincy- Orange Hair, Twin Sisters; what are the odds?" he asks again, smile widening when all Ichigo does is smirk in response.

"Yes," Ichigo answers smugly "what are the odds?"

Ichigo knows that the odds aren't even up to debate.

Ichi just knows that once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and three times is enemy action. Peculiar how he can't help but think the third time is most defiantly not enemy action.

'Never go against your gut.' They both think this simultaneously, and both come to the same conclusion.

'This is barely the beginning.'

To be continued…?

Hey guys! Hope you don't hate me, but I did say I did not have much of a chance to write and only do so in my free time which is really rare. I am working on all my stories but this chapter is finally done-ish (I wanted it to be longer T^T ) so I guess it is time to update.

I'm alive so there is still hope!

Please leave a review on your way out ;)