An asterisk (*) one or more indicates a side note at the end of the chapter to help explain certain things. Also I marked the 'explained text' so it's less confusing. If there is more then one side note per chapter their will be added asterisks (always at end of sentence not before).

If things are written in italics it indicates a voice that speaks in the mind. Not thoughts but more like telepathically. Think Xavier from X-men as an example. Also when someone is masked and they are speaking it will be in italics.

- An exception is made for single italic words the indicate heavy emphasis on selected word

I tried to keep this as close to the way Kubo Tite presents bleach with the exception of long pointless explanations that no one really cares about or pays attention to. Besides a bad guy giving the good guy all the reasons why he's a bad guy and why he's doing things is not realistic with the exception they were friends before. So there are some plot holes so use your imagination to fill them if you wish.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH OR ANYTHING ELSE I REFERENCED. ALL I OWN IS MY IMAGINATION… and a bit of booze

R&R All opinions are welcome even if you hated it. Enjoy

Anemone: Disappearance of Hope

- Silence Is Broken -

It's been quiet lately. There is nothing really to do now but wait and keep up appearances. Even now I can't afford to slip up and our little strawberry has begun to spoil with a rotten mood.* At least that keeps me on my toes. However his attitude is a tad annoying. That fool never lightens up, not even in this peaceful time we have.

The others seem to be enjoying themselves. Chad has found another bird to take care of, and Uryuu has continued his… sewing, while Orihime is enjoying her time with her friends. But even when things aren't quiet that girl enjoys every moment of her life. Orihime is the perfect example of a free spirit.

You can't exactly say that about the rest of her friends though. A couple of them are easy going, one is near the top of the class when it comes to grades not to mention she's an amazing runner, another is a karate expert and the last is well... how should I put this, she's an 'aggressive lesbian'. I believe that is the term they use.

I've had lunch with them before. This is probably the seventh time they have invited me to spend time with them. I'd like to say no and stay near Ichigo in case a hollow appears but who can say no to Orihime's smile of gentle voice. Not that I mind, I actually prefer them to Ichigo's company. However I don't want to put Orihime in the position where she would have to slay a hollow with me.

"Hey, Rukia you've been out of it lately. Is something wrong?" Michiru asked.

I looked up to see everyone giving me a worried look. I reply as cheerful as possible; "Everything's fine, don't worry about it."

"See, I told you she was fine." Orihime said with a reassuring smile.

Everyone's gaze slowly shifted back to their meal or to each other. My gaze also shifted back down to my lunch. I could tell not all eyes were off of me. I look up and meet eyes with Tatsuki. She looks away immediately, dropping her eyes back to her lunch. That's strange. "Is everything alright, Tatsuki? You seem to be distracted lately."

Now all eyes were on Tatsuki as a minor blush formed on her cheeks. "I'm fine," she replied arrogantly. "I just have something on my mind."

"Oh, is this about that guy you were telling me about earlier?" Orihime chimed brightly.

"What? No way. You actually found a guy you like, Tatsuki?" Mahana exclaimed.

"Don't tell me you like Ichigo as well." Ryou said slyly while hiding behind a book.

The minor blush grows on Tatsuki's cheeks at all the attention. Chizuru's face brightened tremendously "That's great! That means Hime is all mine!"

With that the redheaded lesbian leaps at Orihime, much to the displeasure of Ryou whose lunch was knocked over in the process. I let out a chuckle as Tatsuki pulled Chizuru off of Orihime.

"That's not going to happen, Chizuru. Even if I did find someone, which is not Ichigo by the way," She shot Ryou a dark look. "You still can't go after Orihime."

"So who do you like?" Michiru asked.

"Ha, it's probably someone from her dojo." Mahana said.

"It's none of your business who I like, and I'm not talking about it." Tatsuki said stubbornly.

"You better watch out Chizuru, it looks like you may have some competition." Ryou teased.

"Will you shut up? It's nothing like that!" Tatsuki snapped.

My chuckle stopped at the seriousness in her tone and the slight flare up of reiatsu. That should not be there at all. Any joy I felt faded as Tatsuki's reiatsu did. I watched her with a stern expression as she returns to her lunch.

The bell rings and Michiru let's a sigh. "When will be able to have a peaceful lunch where we actually finish eating?"

"At least you still have a lunch." Ryou said eyeing Chizuru who gave her a forced look of sympathy

"It's not my fault that my Hime is so cute." She said restlessly as if ready for another pounce at the girl.

Slowly everyone gathered their belongings and started back to class. "Tatsuki, hold on for a moment." I called. "I need to talk to you about something."

She gave me an odd look before shrugging. "Sure, I'll meet you guys in class." She called out to the others. "What's up?"

The others went on ahead but Orihime lingered a moment giving me a concerned look. I give her a quick nod and she goes back to class. I hesitate for a moment and consider how to start. Is there any way to start? I let out a sigh. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine." She replies with a minor blush. "Why do you ask?"

"You've been distracted lately and something about you is different now." I tell her hoping she'll fess up about her reiatsu flare or anything related to that. It was definitely strange. It felt more of a defensive flare up then an angered one.

"It's nothing." Tatsuki replied looking away. "We're going to be late for class."

Tatsuki turned and started back. I didn't move from my spot. "Does it have anything to do with your little crush on Orihime?"

Tatsuki stopped dead in her tracks. "It's not Orihime." She said as her reiatsu picked up its earlier defense. "I never said anything like that."

"Is that so? Then why are you defensive?" I asked with a sly tone.

Tatsuki looked over at me. "You think I'm acting defensive?"

"No, your actions say you're in denial." I say before diving in. "Your reiatsu is defensive."

"What is?" Tatsuki said slowly while going a bit pale.

"You're familiar with the term then?" Tatsuki offered a small nod. "It's your spiritual power. It allows you to see and experience things a normal human can't. An example of that would be the ability to see spirits."

Tatsuki went even paler making it obvious she could already see spirits. She must already have some sort of grasp on what's going on around her. Tatsuki remained silent. "Is there anything else you have encountered other then normal spirits?"

Tatsuki remained silent as I made my way over to her. I place my hands on her shoulders and gave her a serious look. "Tatsuki, I need you to be honest with me. Your life could be in danger."

"There's nothing else. But I do get a really bad feeling sometimes. Almost like I'm being watched or followed." Her face twisted with fear as she spoke the next words "Every time I turn around to confront it there's nothing there."

"I see, when does this normally happen? Are you alone or does it happen when you're with Orihime?" I asked bluntly.

Tatsuki looked at me with intense fear as her next words stumbled out. "What does Orihime have to do with this?"

"Orihime can handle herself when it comes to these things." I say reassuringly taking my hands off her shoulders. "I'm sorry. We'll have to talk about this after school. Class is about to start."

"What does Orihime have to do with this?" Tatsuki replied as her reiatsu flared with anger now.

"As I said, she can handle herself. You should be more concerned with yourself." I reply. "If you get this feeling when you're alone then you are in danger and you need to control your reiatsu."

Tatsuki grabbed the collar of my shirt. "Answer me, Rukia. How is Orihime involved in any of this?"

"Calm down you fool, you'll attract a hollow. Then you'll never know anything" Tatsuki loosened her grip but her hands lingered along with her reiatsu. "Tatsuki, you need to calm down."

Tatsuki released me and looked away her former blush once again on her cheeks. "I want answers, Rukia."

So it is Orihime that she likes. I can feel a sly smile form involuntary on my face. "All in good time, but for now we need to go somewhere else." She shoots me an angry look. "You may have attracted a hollow. If you did then we need to lead it away from the school so no one else gets involved."

She doesn't argue as I lead her out of the school. She doesn't speak nor do our eyes meet when I glance over at her. She must not like me too much and come to think of it, the confrontation we just had is probably the most we have ever talked. Though she had no problem meeting my eyes before, but now with all this it must be difficult to do so. I shouldn't have brought up Orihime. But it seemed like a good way to determine if it was her that was attracting the hollows or if it was just Orihime.

No, if it was Orihime the hollows were after, then Tatsuki should be more aware of the situation she is in. There is no way Orihime would fight hollows in front of Tatsuki and not tell her what was going on. Is Orihime even aware that hollows are after Tatsuki? Would Tatsuki even talk to her about this? "Tatsuki, how much does Orihime know about this?"

"I didn't even know she had anything to do with this." She replied distantly.

I watched her with worry as her face became paler by the second. We were already far enough from the school now so that no one there would get involved if a hollow did appear. I slowed our pace but Tatsuki was only getting worse. "Are you alright, Tatsuki?"

"There's one here isn't there? You called it a hollow, right?" Her voice shook with fear. "I can feel it watching me. It's following us."

I looked around in disbelief I hadn't sensed a thing how could there be a hollow here. There's nothing around us. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my soul pager. There was nothing on the screen. Was it broken? "Are you sure you sense a hollow? I don't see it or even sense it."

"How can you not feel it? It's right behind us." Her voice was small and weak.

I stopped and turned on my heel ready to face whatever was there. Tatsuki grabbed my arm. I could feel her shaking. Was what she felt that intimidating? "Can we hurry up? I need to get away from this right now. I can't stand this feeling."

Fear ran deep within her voice and sent a chill down my spine. Was what she felt that dreadful? I turned and quickened our pace. She had no complaints about this and had no trouble keeping up. I glanced over and by the look on her face we were still being followed.

"Tatsuki, I need you to keep going." I said while pulling my soul candy out of my pocket. "Chappy will lead you somewhere safe. You'll be fine. I'm going to hold it off."

"What? Rukia don't leave." She gave me a terrified look.

"I'll be right behind you. Don't worry, everything will be fine." I said before swallowing the soul candy.

I fell out of my gigai and watched as it stumbled before Chappy regained balance. She looked back. "Get her to Urahara's and keep her safe." I ordered before turning around.

My hand was on the hilt of my Zanpakutou. I was ready for what ever was there. Behind me I could hear Chappy's cheerful laughter as she dragged Tatsuki down the street. I eyed everything that moved and everything that didn't move. I couldn't see anything. What was Tatsuki so afraid of?

My eyes widen and I glanced back. Did it get by me when I had my guard down? That's not possible. That was only for an instant. 'An instant is all we need, soul reaper.'

The cold words echoed inside my head as I returned my gaze to the empty street before me. There was nothing there. Where had that voice come from?

'Look as much as you want.'

The voice spoke as if it were in my mind.

'It's already too late.'

My eyes widened in fear as pain stretched across my upper body from my shoulder down across to my waist. What was that? Blood sprayed from my body. That was no hollow. I fell to my knees. What are you?

'We are Anemone...' **

Darkness took my vision before I hit the ground but the voice remained in my mind.

'We are the Disappearance of Hope.'

* Ichigo translates to strawberry as well as 15 ichi (1) go (5) for those of you who didn't know that.

** The meaning behind Anemone is disappearance of hope.

- End Part 1 –