*Thump*

Dryness.

*Thump*

Fire burning.

*Thump*

Fire burning... In his throat. Not as... Vividly as it did before, but it still was there.

*Boss, we've found something!*

How long has he been locked in here? He had lost count of the days after three years...

*What the heck is it?*

Great. Now he's even imagining things.

*Dunno. Looks like a coffin.*

No, this wasn't his imagination. Something was up there...

*Bring something to cut these with.*

*Are you sure?*

The fire burnt with renewed energy. His eyes focused onto a weak and thin ray of light that might've appeared while he was asleep.

*What can be in there? A skeleton, in worst case.*

Something moved above him. A strange noise of metal breaking could be heard.

*Open it up.*

*But...*

The poor employee didn't have to move - the coffin seemed to practically blow up, as the top flew down from it. The boss gasped.

"What the bloody hell..." A... Thing was standing in the metal box. Probably a human, but his instincts told him that it was anything but that.

"Bloody hell?" turned the thing's head towards his boss. Well, at least the mask it wore did. It's voice was raspy, as if it hadn't been talking for a while, and was definitely that of a male's. It looked down at it's somewhat ragged clothing. "Ah... I see. Sorry 'bout that. Didn't have the change to change my clothes for some years. And the other thing I couldn't do..."

It suddenly disappeared accompanied by static voices, only to reappear behind the boss. It grabbed the man's neck and lifted him from the ground. It leaned closer to him. "Believe me, it'll hurt me more than you."

Jack - for that was the name of the employee - didn't wait till it finished; he turned and run for his life. But he didn't get too far away when something suddenly grabbed him by his collar.

"And where do you think you are going?"

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

Ichigo sighed, as he jumped through a line of bushes. He luckily got rid of the mask once again and his stomach - or whatever was the thing that "dealt" with the blood and consumed soul particles - was filled. For the time being.

Good thing was - he recognised the forest. He had been exploring it many times in his human life - and even if a few things changed, not all of it.

But now that he had been freed from his underground prison, where will he go?

There was only one thing he could think of.

Home.

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

"Look at that guy. What do you think, is he cosplaying?"

"Nah, don't think so. Probably only another weirdo. Although cosplayers are a kind of weirdos too."

The two girls walked past him, giggling and shooting glances at his clothing and unkept hair that brushed past his waist.

Well, it's not like he had a chance to cut his hair in that forsaken coffin.

He sighed as he looked into the glass of... Well, probably a shop, but it was the strangest kind he had ever seen. It was black and pink with and... Had some sort of strange clothing behind the glass on a doll. And it was holding a whip.

He'd rather not think about what that might be used for.

He shook as the strange carriage practically flew past him, giving out a kind of strange noise, which must be loud even if somebody's hearing isn't as sensitive as his. A few boys around his age - rather, his age before his death - laughed and pointed at him. One of them shouted something but, he must have been very drunk, for it sounded like "yaaeeh mighise'd di charaneee'alu".

Goodness be gracious... How will he find the way back to his home? If the house is still standing, that is. It was clear as day that he had been buried for quite a time.

"Hey, dear?" He looked down. It was a thin and old lady, holding the hand of a white haired kid. "Is everything all right? You look pale and about to faint."

No, gee, everything is all right. Other than missing out the last century, or centuries. And being a blood-thirsty monster. And having a tendency to burn to crisps in sunlight. Nope, there is nothing wrong at all.

Okay, that wouldn't be the best things to say after somebody talked to him politely. He forced himself to smile.

"Well... You could say that I'm lost a bit. Could you tell me which way I have to go to get to the Kurosaki residence?"

"The Kurosaki residence? If you're looking for that place, you're going just in the wrong way. You should go back, take the first turn on the right, cross the bridge, and then there will be a small road to the house. But why do you want to go there?"

"Just... Curiosity? Thank you." Ichigo turned, but realised that he still did not know one extremely important thing. "Umm... Could you tell me which year it is?"

The kid gave him a strange look.

"2002." he said. The Hollow's eyes widened, feeling about to faint.

"2002?"

"Yeah. If last year was 2001 then this year is supposed to be 2002, right?"

"Now, Shiro, don't be like that. See you around, dear."

The old-young male watched them as they slowly disappeared in the crowd.

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

"Young Mistress Karin, you mustn't walk around like that at night!" yelled the woman. "You'll dirty your clothes!" She shrugged.

"So what? It's not like you care either way."

"I do care!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she said, rolling her eyes, grabbing the lowest branch of a tree and pulling herself up. She was sure that a few more seconds and the woman who was better known as "the maid" would faint.

She so did not care about it.

Something orange flashed in front of the gates. She frowned as she climbed up with one more branch.

If she wouldn't have been holding onto the tree tight, she sure would have fallen down.

What was he doing here?

She paled. The existence of ghosts or zombies suddenly seemed very real to her.

But something was off.

The way he walked was with such... Predatorish elegance that her brother never had. Neither did he have waist-length hair, even if the colour was correct.

He was slowly coming up on the garden path, close enough that if he'd look up, he'd have seen her. But he did not.

The Maid was gone by that time. Probably back in the safe castle-like house.

Well, whether he was her brother or not, it doesn't matter - he had nothing to do there at this hour. Yeah, like you do? asked a small voice in the back of her mind.

She jumped.

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

The world crashed onto Ichigo, or so he thought as the nighttime sky suddenly disappeared from his view and he found himself lying on the ground, one arm twisted behind his back.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The voice was that of a young girl's, which was familiar for some reason.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo and..." The grip tightened on his hand, and he hissed his pain. Either he was wrong about the Hollow's feeling less physical pain, or the girl was much, much stronger than a normal human being. True enough, that witch didn't really give him time to test his newfound powers.

"Stop lying. Even if you greatly resemble him, you..."

"I do not lie! That is my name! And that hurts!"

"It is supposed to, moron. Once again, you cannot be him - he wouldn't be stupid enough to waltz in here in the middle of the night, second, he died half a year ago."

Wait, what? Another Kurosaki Ichigo?

"Listen, let go of me first, and then we can talk, ok?"

"I'd rather not," said the girl. The male sighed, as he suddenly stood up. Even if she was strong, she was still a young girl, not weighing more than thirty kilos at most.

"Hey!" yelled the young female. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I should be asking the... Karin?"

The black haired girl scowled.

"Yep, that's my name. How do you know it? Dad does not go around talking everyone about me..."

"Wait, wait, wait... How is this possible?"

"How is what possible?"

"But you're supposed to be dead!"

"And I'm alive? What a shock...By the way, I do not have the slightest idea what you're talking about."

"Okay, so... You're a Kurosaki, aren't you?"

"Great logic. If I live here and I do not wear the clothes of a servant, I'm more than possibly a Kurosaki." The male wasn't really listening to her.

"After that witch cursed me, I've been in that coffin for three hundred years which means that... Oh that holy pile of..." He leaned against the tree. Time was slowly catching up with him.

"Witch? Three hundred years in a coffin? Are you on drugs?"

"Drugs? What's that?"

"The thing you've been possibly taking? Although you don't show the usual signs..."

The rest was lost to Ichigo. He knew that his family is supposed to be dead, but the perfect copy of his sister popping out of nowhere, with the same name... And she was talking about her brother...

History repeats itself. That is the most logical answer. But this kind of repeation...

"Are you even listening?"

"Sorry?"

"Oh, dear god..." She sighed. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Which one?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Ohh... That. Well. I'll tell you, but only if you promise to believe me and stay silent while I'm talking."

The girl nodded, waiting for his explanation.

"I'm not human. I'm a Hollow."

"That's the biggest..." He raised his hand.

"Is my memory might deceive me, or you promised something about staying silent? Good. Now..."

And he told her everything.

Through the centuries one thing not changed - he trusted his family, even if they were only distantly related...

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

"So. You say that you were born about three hundred years ago..."

"Yes."

"Your father's name was Isshin, your mother's was Masaki and you had twin sisters, Yuzu and Karin."

"Yes."

"You lived happily until a witch, did not turn you into a Hollow, a monster that like Vampires, feeds on human blood, or rather the spirit particles it contains. And then you woke up today, and came here."

"Exactly."

"When did you escape from the madhouse once again?" The Ichigo-look-alike sighed.

"Why can't you just believe me?"

"For one, I've never ever seen anything like Vampires, Hollows, Werewolves and such. Two, I always need an evidence to believe anything. Three, do you have any idea how ridiculous your story sounds?"

The male moved - she didn't even have time to react. She grabbed the hands that were now holding her against the tree, even if not tightly. She looked into his eyes - his quite inhuman eyes.

The used-to-be white and now were black and golden.

"Okay. You can let go of me now. That's pretty convincing. For that you are a Hollow part."

"Great." He moved back. She crossed her arms.

"But I still don't believe the first part of your story."

"I think you'll believe to your eyes." She gave him a funny look.

"What, you hollows have some kind of mind trick or technique?"

"No, but humans do have a thing called family-tree."

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

"Karin? Karin, my dear daughter, where were you? The Maid came back and she did not say a word... We worried ourselves to death!"

"You seem to be pretty much alive now," she said. "Where are the flashlights?"

"On the second floor in the drawer by the window that looks at the forest. Why do you need them? Aren't you coming to have dinner?"

"No. And isn't past midnight is a little bit late for dinner?"

"Come ooon, Yuzu cooked your favourite!" sang the sentence the black-haired man.

"I said no! Get lost!"

"Ahh, Masaki, my beloved..."

"Continue that sentence and not only your soul will be hurt," threatened her dad the girl. She knew his monologues to her late mother by heart. She sighed as she took her way back to... The other Ichigo. A three-hundred years old Ichigo, who shared on her family's blood. Mostly. Who was a great-great-great-and-more-greats uncle of hers. Sort of.

She was sure that a headache was coming.

"Karin-chan? Aren't you coming to dinner?" looked out Yuzu from the dining room.

"No, sorry. Could you put some away for me?" Her sister smile. Not a true smile, she didn't smile for real since the death of their mother and brother, but a smile nonetheless.

"Of course."

"Thanks."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" asked a voice on her left as soon as she stepped outside.

"Gosh! Don't scare me like that! And yes, I did." She lifted the flashlight.

"What is that?"

"A flashlight."

"Flashlight? Can I take a look at it." She sighed.

"Sure."

"How does it work?"

"Press the button."

"What kind of magic is this?" asked the male, startled. "It has the light of at least five torches, but there is no fire."

"It is no magic. Only the world evolved since you've last been here. And would you stop doing that?"

"Ahh... Sorry... It's just really fascinating."

"Great." She snatched the device from his hand before he could restart his turning on-turning off game. "Then, which way is it?"

"Follow me."

-n-e-w-..-w-e-n-..!

"You wanted to show me the Sword's Room? I've been there before, you know," said Karin, somewhat annoyed. She was usually in her soft bed sleeping, by this time. The male shook his head.

"No, but I wanted to check something first."

"Harugetsu, Kurogetsu, Shiragetsu, Ryuugetsu, Mangetsu... What's up with this family and the moons?" wondered the girl trailing between the lines after the Hollow.

"According to an ancient family legend, we are the descendant of the Princess of the Moon. Therefore the clan leaders always give a name to their sword that contains the word "moon"."

"That's stupid."

"It's a tradition."

"Well, a stupid tradition." The orangehead smiled.

"You know, my sister thought the same think. But apparently she decided to go along with it."

"Netsuretsuna Akigetsu," read the girl the sword's name. It was rather elegant, and yet had some brutal, vibrating sense of strength to it. "So what? I've seen it countless times. Especially since I was the one who had to clear and polish it usually."

"As I said, we're here because of me, not you. And that's not what I wanted to see."

"Then?" He grinned as he pointed at the one above it.

A sword of pure black. Zangetsu.

Karin shuddered. She never liked that particular sword. It always seemed to be just insanely powerful, like she'd break just from touching it and... Had some dark power lingering around it. She looked at her ancient relative - his eyes were shining with the happiness of reunion.

"You gotta be kidding," she whispered. "That was your sword?"

"Correction - this is my sword." He slowly run his fingers along the line of the blade, up to the handle, and grabbed it so carefully, as if he was holding something delicate.

"Okay, this creeps me out."

"It does? Sorry. It's just that the leaders always have a strong relationship with their swords. Mostly because they chose the materials. All of them. If the sword is weak, it'll be their fault, and not the swordsmith's. They also give the finishing touches to the sword. And then..."

"I got it, I got it, the head of the clan and his sword's relationship is unique. Now I understand that dad why practically sleeps with his sword."

"So they're still doing it?"

"Yeah. It's name is Engetsu. But my grandpa pushed it even further - before he met my grandma he wanted to marry his sword."

"Well, there have always been and always will be weirdos."

"You're the one to speak."

"Hey! I'm not weird!"

"Sure you aren't. So what did you want to show me?" Ichigo slapped his forehead.

"Oh, yeah, right." He walked down between even ancient looking swords and stopped in front of a massive stone wall.

"Well.. This seems to be interesting," said Karin sarcastically. The male ran his hand over its surface, then suddenly froze. With his other hand he took something that looked like a pendant down from his neck and pressed it against the wall.

The girl had to grab a stand as the movement of the wall caused a minor tremor. She gaped.

"What the hell is this?"

"Well, not exactly hell, much more an..."

"Shut it. Nobody had the slightest idea that something like this would be here."

"No wonder. The key had been with me all this time. And what we're looking for iiiis... That way."

"What are we looking for?"

"I told you. A family tree. And here it is," he said as he pulled a rolled up parchment from a dusty stock. "Here you go. At the very bottom."

It was there, all right. The name of Kurosaki Isshin and Tomoe Masaki... And the name of their three children.

Kurosaki Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu.

"This is impossible."

"Not really," shook his head the male. "Think about it. They're already dead. Their souls might have reincarnated as you, and the rest of the family. That'd explain why you look like her, and why do you have the same names, so..."

"But you're not dead! So my brother..."

"Technically I am dead."

"But you're still here!"

"Yeah, so?"

"So if everyone is reincarnated and looks like their past lives, why did my brother look like you?"

"Ahh... I have two ideas, but I don't really like either of them." She arched her eyebrows in curiosity.

"And what would those be?"

"Well..." he was silent for a moment, "One, my soul got bored while the body was sleeping, so decided to go on a little adventure... It'd also explain why did I wake up only now. Two, I don't have a soul anymore, which would explain why Hollows are Hollows."

"Do you feel regret?" asked suddenly the girl.

"'xcuse me, what?"

"Do you feel regret? I mean, if what I know about Vampires, Hollows and such are right, you have to kill in order to stay alive... Mostly alive, anyways. If you do, I do not think you don't have a soul anymore."

Ichigo smiled slightly.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now we have to think of a way to persuade my father to let you stay here..."

"What makes you think I want to stay here?"

"You did all to make me believe you, because you don't want to stay here? That'd be just plain stupid."

"Touché."

Uploaded faster than I thought. And I have yet to finish Deathaura. Oooo, my goodness. I break even those promises that I made for myself!

The name of Karin's sword, Netsuretsuna Akigetsu - Netsuretsuna stands for "ardent" or "burning, fiery" if google translator is correct, but I highly doubt that. But I was in need of a name, got that? xD Akigetsu (I think literally) means "autumn moon". There might be problems with this name that I do not know about, but I have to go with a "whatever" now.

I know that Ichigo is not as surprised as Barnabas of this "new era" but (I think) he has a better ability to adapt to things. Or rather, he just doesn't care that much about them. I think both he and Karin were a bit OOC sometimes... Mostly, but please, bear with it.

About why the two Ichigos look alike - it's his first idead that is correct. (I've read somewhere that our souls might go on a little journey while we are asleep, or something like that, so... That's where the idea comes from.)

Thank you for all of those who have already reviewed, faved or are following this story!