After a long period of hibernating, I looked through my archives and decided which fic to be put up next. So I settled on this one. A sort of AU to Bleach, but I will follow the storyline, so if you don't want to read another Aizen betrayal, then don't start the first paragraph.

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Kubo Tite. The concept of Men In Black doesn't belong to me either.

There are things in this world that we can't see.

There are things in this world we don't understand.

Thus fear is born.

"Hadou 33: Shakkahou!"

A burst of red flame engulfed the shrieking creature and it withered in agony and rage, thrashing about. There was a whoop of joy and several satisfied cackling, all which did not go unnoticed.

"What are you doing, Abarai? This is no time for games!" A silver-haired boy barked testily into the earpiece. An answering chuckle made him frown. "Sorry, Hitsugaya-taichou! Just lettin' ff steam, y'know?"

"I don't know," Hitsugaya Toushiro replied sarcastically. "Hurry up and finish it before it does something stupid."

"Relax, taichou. It's already stupid, how stupid do you think it will get?"

"Possibly nowhere near your level, but all the same be careful – "

"Arrgh!" Another cry made him start. "Report, Kira!"

There were some shouting and the sound of explosions before Kira's voice came on.

"The Hollow has broken the kekkai and retreated, sir! Requesting further orders!"

Cursing, Hitsugaya pressed a finger to his temple. This was just not his day. "All units report back. And you too Abarai." The venom in his voice was clear, and an audible gulp could be heard from the other side.

"Kurosaki-kuuun!"

Seventeen-year old Kurosaki Ichigo nearly bowled over at the over-enthusiastic greeting. One would think that after five months, he would have gotten used to it. Unfortunately Ichigo is just too thick-headed for his own good.

"I-Inoue…" He managed a smile back.

Cue Kurosaki Ichigo, seventeen year old, male. Thick-headed, sullen faced and short-tempered. Outwardly he looks like your run-of-the-mill badass – and in a way he is. Despite appearances, he's a studious student with an excellent academic record and a rather interesting inherent ability…

However thick-headed he was, Ichigo did learn that if he didn't respond to Inoue with a smile, she would go all teary eyed and fearful and he'd have hell on his hands – in the form of one Arisawa Tatsuki.

Cue Arisawa Tatsuki, seventeen year old, female, two times gold medal winner of the National Under-18 Women's Karate Championship. Feisty temper with a fist to match, she's Inoue's constant companion and a nightmare to macho men everywhere.

"Ichigo, try and smile a little more, can't you?" Said Tatsuki scolded him lightly while munching on her sandwich. Ichigo noticed that it was filled with sweet-bean paste, which would mean that Inoue made that sandwich for her. Only Inoue can eat an entire barrel of sweet bean and not get sick, or fat for that matter.

"Aa, it's okay, Tatsuki-chan," Obviously Inoue was quite happy with his smile. He made a mental note to exercise his facial muscles to perform that particular expression for times like these.

Cue Inoue Orihime, fifteen year old, female. Unbelievably genki, filled with boundless enthusiasm and completely clueless. Her palate is legendary, also known to be the Terror of Home Economics. Although she maybe the embodiment of a bimbo, she's actually pretty smart when it comes to things that matter.

"No Inoue, he needs to smile more instead of looking like a constipated orangutan."

Ichigo blithely ignored her comment, instead preferring to stare out of the window while waiting for class to start.

While most people looks out of the window and sees the school field, Ichigo sees much much more.

"Ooo, it's Kurosaki-san!" A ghostly specter floated up to his window and waved him a good morning with a bloody mangled hand. "Hellooo, Kurosaki-san!"

Curse you, thought Ichigo. Go to Heaven already.

"Who are you talking to, Michi?" A second apparition floated down from the roof, this time with the left half of her face missing. Michi pointed to Ichigo, and her finger went right through the glass.

Ichigo didn't even flinch. Kami-sama knows how the class would react to him suddenly screaming his head off. Besides, he's been faced with much worse situations than simply being pointed to.

"This boy can see us, Naki. Say hello to him too."

Che, he grunted and diverted his attention elsewhere. It's bad enough that he's cursed with spirit vision; the spirits actually know he can see them and act like he's their buddy. Get real!

"Yo Ichigo!" A spirited, idiotic-looking boy arrived, waving his hand energetically. Behind him, a tall dark-skinned boy bowed a little to pass through the door.

Cue Asano Keigo and Sado Yasutora. The first is the class idiot, the latter the class giant. Asano is hopelessly stupid and proves it in many ways. Sado is quiet, preferring the company of a book and his music player rather than people.

"Ichigo, did you hear?"

"Hear what?" Ichigo had resigned himself to his fate. Keigo was always full of news in the morning, and Ichigo could bet his family clinic that half of them are useless rumors.

"Some students saw a ghost in the school ground yesterday," Keigo whispered – well he looked like he was whispering but Chiaki in the corner could hear him. "Well I think it's a poltergeist cause they didn't really see him, get what I mean?"

"Uh-huh," Ichigo resumed his vigil of staring out of the window; already reaching the conclusion that today's newsflash is just trash.

A few figures coming up the pavement caught his eye. Four men, he noted. No, make that three guys and a boy, all dressed in black suits and matching shades. He watched them until they disappeared through the double doors. Funny, they seem too old to be students (except the boy) and too smartly dressed to be school inspectors. So what gives?

The four stopped in the hallway. The smallest, the boy known as Hitsugaya glared at Abarai. "Abarai, Kira, Hisagi; secure the exits. Wait until she gives the signal before activating the kekkai."

"Ryokai!" They affirmed before vanishing. Sighing, the boy looked up to the emergency button concealed behind its glass window. They were doing just fine, but now that the creature has chosen to hide in a public place, things could get messy. It's an embarrassment, really. If the other captains get wind of this he'll be teased for life. "Why me?" He almost sighed.

Up on the roof, another more petite figure was kneeling, scanning the building through her visor. "Left wing clear, right wing clear, searching underground – sector 1, sector 2… Underground clear of Hollow energy. Switching to spirit emission detector. Scanning perimeters from the top – abnormal spirit energy detected on the third floor, but it doesn't have a Hollow pattern."

"Ignore that, Kuchiki," Hitsugaya's voice came through.

"Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou," Rukia quickly apologized as she continued scanning.

"Searching underground – Abnormal emission detected. Pattern matches that of a B-Class Hollow. Hitsugaya-taichou, it's here. Coordinates 334.552 mark 611." She called to her captain through a visored headset, and down below the boy sighed. Jumping up, he easily shattered the fire alarm.

RINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

"What the - a fire drill?" Ichigo hastily dropped his pen. Their teacher looked about in alarm. "I didn't know anything about… oh well. Students! Line up calmly and proceed to the exits!" He called to the already chaotic class.

Ichigo frowned. They already had a fire drill two weeks ago; why the sudden need for another one?

"Maa, pretty efficient kids," The one called Abarai chortled as he watched the students pour out into the field. "Oy, Rukia, hurry up."

Up above, Rukia was suddenly faced with a problem. "Something's wrong, Hitsugaya-taichou. The Hollow signal has disappeared out of my range – no – "

"Tch. Abarai! Kira! Hisagi! Move in!" Hitsugaya grumbled as he quickly ran outside. Where the hell did that Hollow run to!

"Taichou!" Rukia suddenly bolted out from her position and headed to the edge of the roof. "Taichou, it's coming up from under the field! It's after the students! Initiating diversion!"

"Wait! Kuchiki!"

Too late, Rukia had launched herself over the roof and released a surge of spirit power.

From below, Ichigo watched in wide-eyed surprise as the girl jumped off the roof. "What the - "

And screamed when something tore out from the ground, heading straight for the girl. He toppled to his knees, shaking madly.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

He could hear Inoue, but she seemed so far away. He was suffocating – there wasn't enough air – he couldn't breathe – Gasping, he forced himself took up and his blood curled. WHAT IS THAT…MONSTER?

A huge thing, almost as tall as the building was high loomed above him, all tentacles and feet and tails. If the thing had a face, it was hidden behind a grotesque mask twisted in a snarl.

"Taichou, we can't activate the kekkai with the students there!" Called Kira. Hitsugaya muttered to himself again. Why do these things always happen when he's on duty!

Meanwhile Rukia had performed a series of seals. "Blast Spell 35: Red Arrows!"

The Hollow wailed in agony as the spell pierced its body, but the spell alone isn't enough to fully kill it. In its pain, it lashed out and caught her in the side, throwing her a good thirty feet away, sending her crashing into some trees.

"Oy, look here Hollow," A lazy voice called out from the roof and the beast looked up – only to see a small boy leaping straight at him brandishing a sword. In one swift slash, Hitsugaya sliced the Hollow's head clean in two, right through the white face mask.

All in all, the students were completely oblivious to the monster. All they saw was Rukia falling, Rukia thrown aside by some invisible force and Hitsugaya leaping and slicing with nothing in his hands.

Only Ichigo in his semi-delirious state… saw it all.

Once Hitsugaya had sliced the monster, Ichigo saw it dissolve into thin air – and suddenly the oxygen rushed back to him and he breathed gratefully, heart pounding loudly.

"Hey, Ichigo, are you okay?" Tatsuki was kneeling next to him with a worried look on her face. "You suddenly looked like you had a seizure or something."

He slowly got up, head still spinning. "You guys… didn't feel it?"

"Feel what?"

They don't know. That realization hit him hard. If they didn't see anything, didn't feel anything, then… then…

Everything was… everyone… ghosts?

Hitsugaya landed next to Rukia and quickly helped her up. "Any injuries, Kuchiki?"

"I'm sorry, taichou," Rukia feebly got to her feet. "I should have been able to follow it's movements."

"Nah, it's fine," Hitsugaya banished his katana and looked expectantly at the girl. "Did it hit you hard?"

"No, taichou," She smiled slightly. "Please… don't put this in the report."

"Fine," He shrugged. "I thought you did a good job. Don't be too hard on yourself, Kuchiki."

"Thank you, taichou."

He then cast his glance to the crowd. He had felt a surge of spirit power there; it's still weak but it had potential. Must be that abnormal spirit emission Kuchiki saw earlier.

"Attention, attention," Someone clapped his hand loudly and all eyes reverted to the roof where a blonde with a strange haircut was waiting. On his right, a spiky-haired man with three scars running down the right side of his face looked down at them disinterestedly.

"Thank you for participating in this fire drill, we of Light and Magic Inc. staged it to show off our latest stunt from the upcoming movie, "Action Black."

A murmur rose from the crowd and Kira cleared his throat again. "So we're giving out this exclusive freebie," He held out a stick-like object no bigger than a pen; "And whoever catches it may consider himself lucky. Ready? 1, 2,"

Flash!

Ichigo winced at the sudden burst of light. The hell?

Kira smiled. "When you come to, this has been an ordinary fire drill with nothing out of the ordinary happening. You did not see any men in black suits, did not see a girl and a boy jumping down from the roof and did not see nor hear me or any of us. You will return back to your classes and resume life as usual. End."

Ichigo frowned. Huh?

But the two men on the roof were gone. Looking around, he realized that the girl and the boy were gone too. And the people around him… "Oi, Tatsuki," he tried to shake his friend but she just stared blankly at the roof. Looking around him, he realized everyone was staring dumbly at the roof, as if in a trance.

A few seconds passed, and just like a huge hand suddenly snapped its fingers, everyone jolted back to reality.

"Ah, is the drill over?" Inoue blinked in confusion and looked at Ichigo. "Ne, Kurosaki-kun?"

He didn't know what to say.

"Come on, Inoue. Let's get back to class," Tatsuki nudged her friend along and the girl nodded.

"This is Hitsugaya," Hitsugaya spoke into a cellphone, the five of them hidden in a grove of trees. "Mission complete. We have an injured Hunter, requesting to be teleported back."