Universe: Bleach

Parings: None!

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Adventure

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo

Warnings: Some Spoilers for Fade to Black, mild swearing and violence.

Authors Notes:

And the mind-messing begins now! Yes things are about to get a lot harder for Homura and Shizuku because the Hollow is going to start messing with their heads; a lot. So be prepared!

I would like to give my thanks once again to Zangetsu50 who has done nothing but help me through this series; the only reason I managed to get to Book 2 was because of them. So thank you very much!

Please review if you have time and enjoy!

Fade to Black: Sorrow of the First Star's Shine

Part II

Heuco Mundo

Shizuku's eyes swept back and forth across the waste land that stood in front of him, making sure no monsters got too close to the place which was their home now; the cave was small and it got cold sometimes but his sister was there, to Shizuku that was all he needed.

His pink eyes took another look around as he tried to work out how long they had been here but once again failing to count the hours thanks to the endless night sky; all he knew that staying in this world was doing no good for either him or Homura.

Homura's strange hunger had become worse over time and soon the small lizards she used to eat just weren't enough to satisfy her anymore; she had to look for something bigger to eat. Shizuku found it strange though because he had never had such a problem with his hunger, yes he was hungry but he wasn't craving to eat the monsters that inhabited this world; he assumed it was because Homura had more Spiritual Energy than him, having always been hunger than him when they lived in Rukongai.

Shizuku was brought out of his thoughts as he spotted Homura slowly walking towards him with blood staining her lips as she licked the red liquid of her fingers with happiness clear on her face.

"Are you full? Did you find enough?" Shizuku questioned the moment Homura was close enough to hear him; the blonde and pink haired girl grinned happily as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

"Yep! I found a huge one but it was easy to kill!" Homura chirped while holding her arms out wide to prove her point on the size; Shizuku nodded his face as blank as ever.

"That's good. I'm going to get some sleep then." Shizuku explained and Homura nodded as she watched her younger brother walk back into the cave with disappointment clear in her green eyes; she missed the boy who would smile at anything. It made her feel even worse when she realized that if she had listened to Ichigo in the first place then none of them would be in this position.

'What are you ssssulking about now?' An annoyed voice hissed inside her mind causing her to flinch slightly as she remembered another thing she had done; she was constantly lying to her little brother.

While it was true she was constantly getting hunger but it wasn't as bad as Shizuku believes it to be; the reason she continued to consume Hollows was because it silenced the voices in her head that screamed at her until she ate. Sadly one voice didn't leave her alone no matter how many Hollows she consumed, if anything the voice became louder and it's encouragements for her to kill more powerful Hollows became stronger.

'That wasss a good catch today.' The voice praised and Homura could see him flicking his fork tongue out and along his mask to prove his point; she forced herself to grit her teeth and tried to ignore the voice but the Hollow was very persistent.

He wasn't about to let some snot-nose brat ignore him.

'You can ignore me all you want but I will alwayssss be here; in the back of your mind and lisssstening to your thoughtssss and feelingsss. You will never get rid of me.' The hollow pointed out as he practically spat the word 'feelings' causing Homura to flinch as she bit her lip.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you making me do such horrible things?" Homura demanded but the Hollow simply laughed.

'I'm doing thisss for your own good! Do you know what would happen to you if you don't eat Hollowsss? You would lossse your mind.' He explained causing Homura to glare furiously at the ground.

"I am not one of those monsters!"

'Are you sssure about that? Take a look at the bottom of your neck.' He ordered and Homura swallowed before she slowly opened the neck of her kimono to reveal what she had feared; at the base of her throat was a hollow hole.

'Sssee? Do you believe me now little girl? You and your brother are now newborn hollowsss ssstranded in the desssert of Heuco Mundo. The only way you 2 can sssurvive is by usssing my power.' The Hollow taunted before he laughed but Homura had finally had enough.

"Enough! Shut up! Shut up! Go away and leave me alone!" Homura screamed as tears prickled at her eyes; the Hollow fell silent as Homura sniffed and whipped at her eyes with her fisted hands.

"Fine. I will leave you alone for now but remember these wordsss. What would your savior think when he realizesss you're a Hollow?' He questioned and Homura felt herself unable to form a response; the Hollow chuckled as he slowly faded away.

'That'sss what I thought.' He whispered before leaving Homura alone once again; the girl released a sob as she fell down to her knees but as she tried to sort out her messed up thoughts the Hollow hole on her neck slowly disappeared.

Shizuku looked up from where he was lying on the ground at the sound of soft footsteps; his eyes narrowed slightly when he saw his sister walking in without her usual smile.

It was incredibly off putting and Shizuku decided that he didn't like his sister without her smile; he forced himself to sit up as Homura slowly sat down a few feet away from him.

"What's wrong? You look shaken, did something happen?" He finally questioned and Homura took a shuddering breath she forced herself to answer.

"I'm fine, nothing happened; go back to sleep." Homura brushed off his concern easily but she refused to meet his eyes as she laid down with her back to him.

"I heard you shouting at someone. Who were you shouting at?" He questioned instead and he noticed Homura seemed to flinch slightly.

"I wasn't talking to no one, you must be hearing things." Homura replied her voice nearly as cold as eyes but Shizuku knew something was wrong and he wasn't about to let her go that easily.

"Onee-Chan-?"

"Would you just leave it alone? Nothing happened! I'm fine and I wasn't shouting at anybody! You've probably lost your mind and have started hearing voices!" Homura snapped angrily as she glared at Shizuku over her shoulder; her brother flinched as if she had physically smacked him. She might as well have the way Shizuku felt after her words, his sister had never spoken to him in such a way before.

Everything fell silent as Homura turned back around to avoid looking in her brother's hurt pink eyes; Shizuku looked down sadly as he forced himself to speak around the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

"You don't have to hide things from me you know, Onee-Chan. I'm not going to judge you." Shizuku whispered but Homura stayed stubbornly silent; with a sigh Shizuku finally laid back down and forced himself to go back to sleep.

For Homura though sleep didn't come as easily; she made sure to keep her back to her brother even when his breathing became deeper. She didn't want him to see the tears that were falling silently down her cheeks. It took all her effort not to start sobbing in fear as the Hollow's words continued to echo around her ears.

Eventually she found herself falling asleep but because of that she was unaware of the Hollow slowly consuming a very important memory to both her and Shizuku.

"Perfect." The Hollow laughed as he finally finished consuming the memory; his laughed echoed around Homura's head, causing her to tremble in her sleep.

Her dreams slowly turned to that of blood and gore as the hollow continued to laugh.

Homura groaned as she slowly awoke from her sleep; she sat up with a huge stretch as yawned so widely it brought small tears to her eyes.

She felt a lot better after a night sleep, she had pushed the Hollow's cruel words to the back of her head and realised that Ichigo would accept them no matter what they were; with a smile she looked over at Shizuku who was still sleeping next to her.

"Hey it's time to wake up-?" Homura's mouth moved but no sound came out; her eyes were wide with shock as she tried to say her brother's name; her mind though had gone completely blank.

"Otōto!" Homura shouted urgently as she shook her brother's form; Shizuku groaned in annoyance as he was awoken so roughly but none the less sat up.

"What is it?"

"What's your name?" Homura questioned desperately causing Shizuku's eyes to narrow in confusion; he scratched the back of his neck as he slowly stretched.

"What are you on about, Onee-Chan? My name is-?" But just like his sister, Shizuku's voice caught in his throat as his mind went blank; he desperately searched through his memories but his name never came to his mind. Quickly he tried to remember Homura's name but he just ended up having the same result.

"We've forgotten our names." Shizuku whispered quietly in shock as he tried to make sense of his thoughts; they had forgotten their names. Shizuku narrowed his eyes as he forced himself to remember the 1st night they saw Ichigo.

"Do you two have names then?" Ichigo asked as he wrapped himself tighter in his own blanket and blew on the hot soup.

"No...We don't have any..." A weak voice said; Ichigo looked down to the sister blinking up at him with hazy green eyes.

"You don't have any? Well how about I give you one?" Ichigo asked, the boy perked up and the sister pushed herself up slightly.

"Y-you'll give us a name?" The boy asked and the girl coughed slightly.

"Why? Why are you helping us?" The sister asked as Ichigo handed her his own cup of soup.

"Because I want to. It wouldn't be right for you not to have a name, ne?" Ichigo asked; the sister and the brother slowly started to smile.

"What's your name?" The brother asked and Ichigo smiled slightly.

"I'm Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki." Ichigo said, the brother blinked at him in confusion.

"He...who protects...what a lovely name." The sister whispered before she coughed, Ichigo smiled as he damped the cloth on her forehead again.

"I'm surprised you worked that out, most people confuse it with Strawberry." Ichigo said and the sister smiled.

"It wouldn't suit you. Do you know what to call us?" The sister asked; Ichigo nodded as he smiled.

"I've already thought of one." Ichigo said simply, the brother suddenly cheered as he started jumping up and down.

"Yeah! A name! A name!" The brother shouted, the sister clamped her hands in excitement; being too weak to get up because of the fever.

"Hey, calm down." Ichigo ordered but he was smiling; the brother jumped at him and hugged him around the chest and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"Yes, I think you two would be perfect for these names. You are -." Ichigo said as he tapped the brother's nose lightly.

"And you are -. Back to back you two can - -." Ichigo said as he placed his hand on Homura's damp blond hair.

"Thank you!" Shizuku cried out in joy, Homura suddenly started coughing causing Ichigo to sigh.

"You still have a fever, -. Don't push yourself." Ichigo said sternly, Homura's fever cheeks darkened as she nodded.

"O-Okay, Ichii." Homura said as she shortened Ichigo's name and he smiled and pushed her to lay down.

"Sleep. I'll protect you two, even when I don't have my sword."

Shizuku's eyebrow furred together in annoyance as he realized that even when he remembered their names wouldn't come to mind; there was just silence, it was disturbing and irritating. Shizuku was brought out of his thoughts violently by Homura as he burst into loud sobs.

"T-the n-names I-Ichigo g-gav-ve us a-ar-re g-go-ne!" Homura wailed as Shizuku pulled her into his arms; she continued to sob into his shoulder as he tried to calm her down without success. He was just as upset about the situation but he wasn't one to show his emotions out loud, he was better at suffering in silence.

Homura slowly managed to calm down and she slowly pulled away from her little brother's comforting form; she sniffed as she rubbed her eyes with her fist before trying to think of what to do.

She needed to get her memories back, she needed to remember her name otherwise she would never be able to face Ichigo again! Homura's eyes widened in realization.

"That's it! If I find Ichigo, then he can tell my name!" Homura shouted as she stood to her feet with a huge smile; Shizuku's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait! No don'-?" Shizuku didn't even managed to finish his sentence; before his shocked eyes Homura was surrounded by a black and purple glow before she disappeared.

"Onee-Chan!" Shizuku shouted as he scrambled to his feet; he desperately felt out for Homura's familiar presence but he felt nothing. He was completely alone.

Omake

Glossary

- Otōto (弟, Little Brother) – The term used for little or younger brother.

-Onee (姉, Respected Elder Sister) – Term used for a respected older sister but also if the person has 2 older sisters, Onee is used for the eldest.