Hollow Eyes

Disclaimer: I don't own nothing of Bleach. Only Kiri. She's 100 mine. HANDS OFF BAKAS!

Sean: Don't call your readers bakas!

Sam: Um yeah well I wasn't really calling anyone that. It was just kinda a macho thing I guess and WHY THE HECK ARE YOU HERE?! YOU"RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE MOON!

Sean: I just had to come see you!

Sam: (Kicks to the moon.) Baka. I don't need nuisances when I'm so busy!

A/N: Don't mind me. But please R&R the story! Hint: Sayomi means 'night-born' and Kurotora means 'black tiger'. Me did some research! Both names are so cool I just had to use them! This is Bleach I promise! Yeah I'm in between stories…so sue me! I just had to write this one down already!

Random Song of Mo: Colors of the Heart By UVERworld

Live by the light. Give into the light and warmth around you…and you will never grow lonely. Trust in your heart's instinct. That same instinct rules the lives around you here. You are the keeper in this sanctuary, protect it with the remainder of your pure life, and listen. Listen to all the light has to say, they know more about the world than humans give credit for.

The light, it banishes the darkness only by keeping it at bay. Your job, your responsibility is to be the catalyst between the light and dark. Between life and death. The light can only live where shadows have fallen away.

Guide them carefully. For if you go astray, the world shall perish, and one light, one star shall be extinguished from the sky…and one life lost shall impact the others. You…you are the balance, the twilight between day and night, the…shinigami of all.

Sayomi Kurotora Winters awoke feeling oddly at peace. The sensation hadn't been felt in quite a length of time, and the realization that she was under its spell dazed her significantly. She rubbed her golden-brown eyes in wakeful routine and sat up in her bed, thinking about her new role in life. She was here, in this new town, in this new house, in this new country even! Things were so different than a few weeks ago from when everything had first began to turn her life for the better. That comforting voice still ringing in her head from her slumber was no longer the frightening one she remembered from that day.

She remembered clearly of the horror of having to actually leave the country she loved behind and enter one that was as distant as the moon. The states had the only friends and places and faces she knew but now… now that her family was no longer alive. Now that she was all alone, she knew the only family left 

would be where her mother was born. The place that she had met her father all those years ago. The place where Sayomi knew she had to go to now. Japan.

The packing had been honestly been easy, due to the lack of belongings but, the emotional obstacle was the hardest. She couldn't pack her best friend Lily in her bags, she couldn't pack the house and neighborhood she grew up in and shared beautiful memories with in boxes, and she certainly couldn't pack up the tree that she and her father planted when she was five before he went off to war in any suitcase. That tree held a link to the father she barely knew. It was almost as if she could glimpse into its knotholes and see into another world, one where he would be waiting for her, telling her stories of the magical land where he had met her mother. But sadly, packing and leaving was all she could do now.

And then the voice came. And with it came that same magic from the tree. And she would always carry it with her.

So now. Sitting on her new bed in her new house in her new country, Sayomi Winters, the girl with little left to lose, decided to begin the day.

"Iiiiichiiiiigoooo!" Said teenager didn't even bother turning around in his seat before promptly knocking the voice's owner to the ground with a fist.

"Mornin' Keigo." The strawberry-blonde went back to reading a book on his desk.

"Aw Ichigo!" Keigo whimpered, rubbing his head gingerly, "Why do you have to do that every single day?!"

"Why do you have to keep running at me and yelling that way…every single day?" Ichigo fired back at his annoying friend.

"But Iiiichiiigooo!"

THWACK! "You're doing it again baka!"

"Ohayo Kurosaki-kun! Asano-san!" A perky voice called from the front of the room. A girl with long brown hair and a well…mature feminine form stood smiling pleasantly at them. "Mornin' Orihime."

A tall, well-toned girl with short black hair walked alongside her dearest friend. She shook her head. "Still fighting this early in the morning?"

"Ah shuddup Tatsuki! It's this idiot's fault he's so damn annoying!"

The 'idiot' cried dramatically and jumped up and down in 'grief'. "You don't mean that Ichigo! You don't mean it!"

A short cute boy walked into the classroom flanked by an enormous guy with long curly hair that covered his eyes. "Of course he means it Asano. Good morning everyone!" "Hey Chad, Mizuiro."

Keigo gasped exasperated. "WAH?! NO WAY AND WHY ARE YOU BEING SO FORMAL?!"

As the usual drama unfurled and the students sat down at their desks, Ichigo felt a finger jab him in the back. Annoyed, he turned around to confront the shorty girl who occupied the desk behind him.

"What?" His voice was laced with irritation. The book (Shakespeare play) he was reading was getting to the climax.

The raven-haired girl stared at him with eyes dancing mischievously. "Oh am I interrupting something?"

"Yes. You are." He growled. The twosome didn't seem to notice what the boy next to them did. He shoved his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose and blinked at the person standing at the door.

What weird spiritual pressure? No. It couldn't be spiritual pressure. It wasn't right. Then what could it be? He peered at the couple still arguing childishly next to him out of the corner of his eyes. They stared right back. They sensed it too.

"Alright class, take your seats and give your full attention to our newest student!" The ever-cheerful teacher exclaimed as she entered the room last. All of Ichigo's companions already had their attention trained at that person at the door. "Miss Sayomi Kurotora Winters from the United States!"

The class greeted the girl with polite interest. A yankee could either be interesting or annoying, ne? She was slim and lithe, she was taller than most girls, but her size didn't hold up to a silent power that could just barely be felt from her posture. She had large golden eyes framed with silky brown hair that was cut medium in length into waves that curved away from her tanned, angled face dusted with the faintest of freckles. Everyone could just sense a crisp, gentle air about her, an aura that just seemed to radiate and spread infectiously throughout the room.

The introduced girl smiled shyly and bowed her head of golden brown hair before replying. "Pleased to meet you." Her accent was amazingly perfect for someone who didn't look a speck of Japanese. The teacher whispered a question that sounded like "Can you write your name on the board?" She nodded and quickly printed her full name then turned back to the staring class. "Please call me Sami if that's okay."

Her smile was so dazzling and friendly that several people dared the chance to bombard the girl with questions before she could take her assigned seat. She answered them all with equal politeness and sincerity and then took her small blue bookbag to the empty seat to Ichigo's right. The class was satisfied with the new student. She was classified as interesting and likable. Her middle name was her great-grandmother's name and her mother taught her Japanese when she was only a child. Her father was part Hispanic and was in the Army at an American base nearby when he met her mother. Currently she was living with her mother's relatives. She liked soccer, reading, and drawing. Her favorite color was green and her favorite animal was a tiger.

But that one question though. There was one question she neglected to answer. "Why did you move here?" That one question kept the other students wondering. She was mysterious and kindly. Very interesting.

"Um excuse me…um?" Sami turned to ask her new neighbor with a questioning look as class began. "Ichigo."

"Um thanks. Ichigo, this is gonna sound weird but…are you reading Shakespeare by chance?" Her bottomless eyes strayed to the book he was trying to read and her face flushed a bit with embarrassment.

The boy blinked. "Uh yeah. Orthello."

"Oh eheh! That's what I thought!" She smiled pleasantly, with perfect teeth. "You see, that's what we were reading for homework back home and I really enjoyed it and well…just wondering! Sorry to disturb you!" Her large eyes saddened suddenly and she turned to greet her other new neighbors politely.

Ichigo stared curiously at her when a note plopped in his lap.

Looks like the new girl is a nerd like you! :3

The crudely drawn bunny gave the notee away. Ichigo seethed.

Shut up! Someone finally appreciates classic literature around here! Seeing as the previous new girl was a disappointment. And that bunny sucks as usual.

Underneath he wrote his concern.

What do ya think her spiritual pressure means?

He passed it back when the teacher's back was turned, she was saying something about having to get something from the office and would have to leave the class for a few minutes. The note was immediately thrown back.

Well ignoring that quirk…I really don't know. I can't trace it as a spiritual pressure, but I can sense something…

He smirked at the supposedly 'thoughtful' bunny she scribbled in the margin. Yet in all seriousness, he couldn't understand the sensation either.

"Hello…um…Rukia is it?" A smooth velvety voice interrupted his thoughts. The shinigami in question looked startled for a moment before putting on her usual perky façade. "Why yes it is! Nice to meet you!"

"Right back at you!" Sami smiled shyly, brushing a stubborn strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a medium-sized silver hoop earring. "Um sorry to disturb you but could you tell me where the nearest bathroom is? I'd ask the teacher but she left somewhere and I really have to use it."

There's something off in her eyes now…Rukia thought as a shiver ran down her spine. There's something shadowy hidden in those golden depths. They look almost hollow with something…

"Oh you're not disturbing me! The only one disturbing is Ichigo! Heehee! No the bathroom is just around the corner to the left." Rukia said brushing her unease off with her wit.

Ichigo scowled at the midget and fired back but only half-heartedly because he saw that something was wrong. The girl thanked Rukia and stalked out the door. No sooner had she gone when Ichigo cocked a questioning eyebrow.

"Something's not right about her." Then before Ichigo could respond, his badge went off. HHOOOLLLOOWW HOOLLLOOWW!! Everyone in Ichigo's posse immediately turned to his direction. He stood up ready to go, Rukia by his side, checking her phone. "Four." She said.

But to his surprise Chad stood up shaking his head. "I'll go. You guys have been missing a lot lately."

Ichigo smirked. "Fine. We'll all go. Tatsuki, Orihime, Mizuiro, cover for us."

And with that, the three dashed out of the room and down the hall. When they got outside they were not disappointed. Four large hollows tipped their heads back and shrieked their presence from behind the gym. Rukia and Ichigo slipped into their respective shinigami forms, telling their mod souls to take cover behind some trees. Chad dashed off ahead of the two, his right arm transforming. Time to get to work.

The first three hollows cackled at their appearance, showing their snakelike fangs, flicking forked tongues. They all had a curious snake-like appearance to them. The king cobra looking one skittered to the left, taking charge of the attack, while the other two flanked the right and charged the front.

Chad took the frontal attacker, dodging as it struck at him with its white face leering menacingly. It doubled back as Chad ran straight at its head. The hollow growled and skittered to the side, aiming to strike again as the giant boy missed his target. With a satisfied hiss it pierced flesh, only glancing, but could still taste the warm blood as it spurted from the wound.

Chad let out a grunt as the hollow coiled backwards, prepared to strike once again. He ignored the searing pain in his arm from the cut and this time focused his attack to hit right as the hollow struck again. THWACK! He released his cocked fist as the hollows head came shooting down in aggression. The blow smashed through its reptilian skull, shattering it to a million pieces until it slowly dissolved into nothingness.

Ichigo and Rukia weaved in and out of the other two hollow's charges. Rukia unsheathed her pure white blade and danced to the side, skirting with deadly accuracy as she sliced and cut through the hollow. Her ebony blade transformed into crimson as she pulled it upwards to the hollow's head. The effect was quick and immediate. Its painful shriek rang in her ears as she landed deftly on the ground, its form completely turned to dust.

Ichigo took the pell-mell brash action of head on combat. He didn't dodge attacks as the cobra-hollow hissed only inches from his ear, he merely blocked with the jet-black Zangetsu, never pausing in his dash till he lunged and struck with full force at its skull. The sigh of his robes and the slice of his blade the only sounds to his ears. The hollow never had a chance. "Well that takes care of that." He muttered under his breath before joining the other two.

"Baka! That was reckless!" Ichigo winced as a midget's foot connected with his shin. The two were about to begin another pointless argument but ceased when they noticed their injured comrade. "Chad, you okay?" The large youth simply nodded as he clamped a massive hand on his bleeding arm. He was distracted by something other than pain. "Weren't there four hollows?" The violet eyed shinigami traded a startled glance with the amber-eyed one before looking wildly about for the last hollow. Rukia pulled out her hollow tracking device again in silent panic. "Its spiritual pressure vanished. I don't see it anywhere."

Ichigo cursed aloud, angered that he had missed one. "Dammit! Where the hell did it go?!" He slung his zanpakto over his shoulder with a scowl.

"Ichigo we don't know where it went. There's no use trying to find it if the tracker doesn't even show it." Rukia frowned warningly at him, knowing what Ichigo was most likely to do now. She didn't like missing one either. Who knows where its gone and what it's doing now. But rushing off after it could get them nowhere.

She sighed and beckoned 'Pyon' over to her side so she could climb back in her gigai. "Here Chad, let me heal that wound up a little bit." The shinigami stood on tiptoes to start the healing process. She mumbled something under her breath as her hands started to glow on the patch of dark bloodied skin. The wound wasn't deep, but the scratch itself was wide and the blood just wouldn't colligate.

Ichigo whistled at the wound on his friend's upper arm as he approached, silently fuming that Rukia had read his mind. "Damn that's one nasty cut."

Wincing slightly as Rukia closed the wound up somewhat he questioned Chad about where the last hollow was during the fight so he could try to track it down on his own later but realized his chum's attention was fixated on something behind his shoulder. The fact was…Chad saw something that he hadn't noticed earlier while he was in combat. In fact, he was sure that the vision before him wasn't there until just a few minutes ago. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, he knew without a doubt that what he was looking at right now wasn't natural. It was something that wasn't right at all.

At the base of a tree just inside his field of vision, four serpents slithered through the leaf litter. Four?

As the threesome walked briskly back to class, Chad wondered why he had kept the sight to himself. He winced slightly as throbbing from his bandaged arm intensified, interrupting his thoughts. The short raven-haired girl led the way back to class, soundlessly, absorbed in her own thoughts and very much perplexed on where the whereabouts of that last hollow. Of course some hollows got away, that sort of 

thing happened in the shinigami world. But it was rare that her pager blipped like that. It was rare that the hollow got away and completely disappeared on the tracking pager as well.

Ichigo was still thoughtful as to how he lost track of a whole monstrous beast the size of a house. It irked him to know one got away. It could be that one hollow that kills hundreds of other innocent people! Destroying thousands of families and friendships. Impacting on millions. He didn't know when he first started thinking in this fashion, but he was pretty sure it was when he truly accepted his new role and responsibility as shinigami. Of course, he would understand the pain of this situation and of course he would want to keep others from experiencing it, if he could. And he did have the power to protect now.

He watched Rukia's petite form ahead of him from the corner of his upturned eyes. He had that bunny obsessed midget to thank for that.

Gears still inaudibly turning in each of their minds, they hastily made their way back to their respective classroom and were shocked to find…the teacher was still not there. Everyone was out of their seats, chatting with friends and joking quietly amongst themselves so they didn't even notice the three approaching their seats…or Chad's bandaged arm. Or so they thought.

Orihime and Tatsuki looked up from their animated conversation with Sami as they took their seats. "Oh um…Mrs. Okatawa still hasn't come back from the office. No one knows why." The more busty of the three informed them.

Ichigo let out a sigh as he plopped wearily into his chair. "Lucky us."

Rukia gave him a warning look before hastily changing the subject when she noticed Sami's curious stare. "So what were you guys talking about? It sounded interesting!"

Tatsuki took the bait and played along. "Oh we were just telling Sami-chan all about the different clubs and activities here. I was trying to get her to join soccer club since she loves it so much."

Sami's eyes crinkled into a grin. "Yeah well I'll definitely think about it. There is so much to do here at this school. In my old school all we had were sports teams, student council, random bowling club, and the lonely Japanese culture club." She gave a short laugh. "That last one doesn't hold a candle to the real place though." Her eyes went suddenly distant. "It really is beautiful here."

The others around her just stared dumbly. She sounded as if she was confirming something. Noticing the awkward silence she laughed again. "Heh! Sorry about that! I tend to space out sometimes."

Tatsuki grinned and tapped her best friend on the head. "Don't worry. Orihime here is the master at that!"

Said girl remained placid and simply smiled as everyone let out an amused snort. "Ehehehe!" She quickly composed herself and then wildly waved her arms about, her face lit in sudden inspiration. "I know what club you could do! You could join the handicrafts club!"

Now everyone sweatdropped. "Eh…well…um…"

Tatsuki rolled her eyes at her friend as Sami tried to form a polite form of rejection to that plan. "Orihime! It's obvious that Sami isn't interested in that!"

"Well I'm sorry Orihime! It was a thoughtful idea anyways." "Oh well…I hope you find the perfect club where you'll do something you really enjoy!" The long-haired girl's smile was sweet and sincere.

"Thanks Orihime that's very sweet!"

This whole time Sami could feel four pairs of eyes trained inconspicuously on her from all angles. She tried not to let it bother her much but she couldn't help but look up and meet with one of the stares. She couldn't help but challenge. It was in her blood after all, though no one else knew it. So she met with one of the pairs that was looking directly at her. She raised her eyes and looked beyond Orihime. The enormous boy with the long curly hair was staring at her, well with at least one chocolate eye that she could see. His other was hidden beneath a surge of jet-black curl that fell gently over a full nose and framed his well-angled face. His tanned skin gave away his ethnicity. And the bandage on his arm was suspicious. He's rather handsome. She thought. He was the type that liked to keep to himself and by the looks of it, was very loyal to friends.

They kept eye contact for a long time, summing each other up, trying to read the other's suspicions and ending up losing the suspicious drive. He looked away first. The depths of her golden gaze made him uneasy and the shadows lying beneath the surface of the gold-flecked shimmers in them kept him at bay of interpreting his qualms inside them. There was no way to navigate into her thoughts, her eyes, slightly tinged with a bronze tint was a void, a bottomless hole that no soul could dare jump into without ever hoping to see daylight again. He knew as he watched her chit-chat in front of him…that she was hiding something within her. Something that she was still learning to control.

He didn't think the others could sense it, but he knew he could. There was an imminent streak of blackness in her. From the way she talked, to the way she moved, he could feel it emitting from her body in waves. She kept it well-hidden, but to the keen prying eye, as was Chad, since he learned and watching that listening can tell you more than words, he could see it radiating from her.

But oddly enough, it wasn't all darkness that lay within her. No. Chad could also sense, while shadows in her eyes, there was a beautiful sheltering light calling to all who beheld them. That was the one thing she didn't bother to hide. It was easily perceived by the others and made them feel an attraction to her, like moths to a flame. Only this flame…this seemingly normal girl, wasn't the kind to burn and cause harm. Chad knew that but then grew only more confused about her than he already was. It was extremely bewildering. There was darkness in her, yet she did no harm? It made no sense but that was what made him look away in the end. He saw all of this in just a brief glimpse.

In her mind's eye, Sami smiled triumphantly. She had won this staring contest. The tall boy looked very baffled for some reason and she didn't understand it. As she read his gaze, she came up short. She seemed to have met her match in creating a barrier with her eyes. The boy was a master at shielding emotion and it intrigued her. She had reasons enough to keep people out, but then what did the boy have to hide? What did all of the people in his circle of friends have to hide, huh? The other three pairs of eyes were still watching her, but she knew with certainty that they were merely sensing her 'shroud of mystery' that she liked to keep up. The boy was the only one who understood something deeper than the surface. This could be meddlesome. Or this could be interesting. Just like the arrival of a yankee student, ne?

Finally, before Ishida could surmise his suspicions from behind his stare, before Rukia could understand that Sami's spiritual pressure was missing now, before Ichigo could wonder just what was so odd about this new girl…the bell rang for lunch. And the MIA teacher finally came back. And before everyone left the room. Before any thoughts regarding the mystery behind the interesting new student named Sayomi Kurotora Winters could be processed. The teacher called out a simple command.

"Yasutora, Winters. Please see me for a minute before you go to lunch."

TBC!! DADADADA!

A/N: Please give me feedback for this totally bizarre story idea. I hope it's at least somewhat promising cuz it took a bit more thought process then all of my other fanfics. And don't worry! I'm just flipping between stories like a goober and will continue with all of the stories for both Eyesh and Bleach! Also i was a loser and added some things that are very similar to me...like for one...MY NAME! Geez i'm so wierd!

Sam: Wow that poor girl has a mouthful of name!

Hiruma: Sucks for her.

Ichigo: Who the heck are you and where did you get that gun?!

Sean: Where am I?!

Hiruma: (blasts him back to the moon where he belongs) Damn. Looks like you've got a typo problem effen waffle…

Ichigo:WTHECK?!

Sean: WHY?! WHY MUST YOU TORMENT ME SO??

Sam: Die typo.

Sean: WAH!