Chapter 2:

Ichigo couldn't sleep that night. He was too concerned about the situation. Linnette, the songstress who could control Hollows, was back. Back with her two invincible bodyguards. This wasn't good. The last time they were here, Ichigo had attacked his own friends and many people had turned on their own families. Victor had even created a serum that would turn human beings into Hollows when they heard her song. Was history going to repeat itself now that they returned? He couldn't allow it.

He absolutely wouldn't allow them to kidnap him again and force him to be her lapdog either. He was going to make sure of that.

"What do I do?"

He stared at the dark ceiling, thinking.

"Ok. I'm going down there to check things out. That's all. If she's up to her old tricks again, then I'll act on it. If not…"

Then again, it wasn't her that was bad, just her upbringing. She was taught to be that way. Now that she wanted to be brought up correctly, perhaps Ichigo truly had nothing to worry about. Maybe they were raising her right this time around. There was only one way to find out for sure.

Ichigo walked to the park shortly before noon. He wanted to be early, just in case they were putting on an act and caught them behaving like the old days. He walked along the thin sidewalk looking for them. They never told him where exactly they would meet, leaving him to search.

He came across a small playground with swings and a sandbox. He saw Victor sitting on a bench near the sandbox, a small leather bag at his side. The bag was covered in a floral design, far too feminine for a man to carry. It must have belonged to Linnette, meaning that she was close by.

Sure enough, there she was. The young girl was playing on the jungle gym with Cedric following her every move. She had climbed all the way to the top in her short skirt and knee socks. She stood up tall, looking around from her unfamiliar perspective.

"Linnette, you'll hurt yourself," Cedric warned. "And people can see up your skirt."

"No one's around, Cedric. Would you relax." The wind blew, making her feel unsteady and she knelt down on one of the bars. That's when she spotted Ichigo. "Hi! Ichigo, over here! Hello!" She stood back up, but only to jump down.

Cedric reached forward and caught her as she came down. She didn't stick around for a lecture and ran to Ichigo.

"Did you find us ok? You're early."

Nothing amiss here. She was just acting like a normal child. "Yeah, I found you guys fine."

She grabbed his arm. "Come play with us. It's fun."

"That's ok. I'm fine here."

"Aw, that's no fun. Come on!"

Ichigo allowed himself to be pulled over to the jungle gym where Cedric gave him his usual greeting, narrowed eyes and all. Cedric wasn't the most pleasant person to be around, but he was very concerned for Linnette and her safety. Always had been. That hadn't changed. He still saw Ichigo as a threat. But he mellowed out once Linnette started a new game with him.

They played several games together. Never paying any attention to the possible danger, Linnette tried to jump from the jungle gym over to the monkey-bars. A jump that was over ten feet away. Even Ichigo was concerned about her this time. She made the leap, missing by several feet. Both Ichigo and Cedric made a grab for her, resulting in the two colliding with one another, Linnette landing on top of them. She laughed and begged to do it again. Rubbing his bruised nose, Ichigo declined. Cedric gave him a strange look as if he were surprised by his actions as well as suspicious of them. Did he not understand why Ichigo had tried to prevent Linnette from hurting herself or what?

Sometime during their play, Victor had snuck off somewhere. Ichigo wanted to know where, but wasn't given the time to ask. Linnette wanted to do more.

After an hour of play, Ichigo had had enough and wanted to sit down. Too engrossed in her game to care, Linnette never argued and continued to run around. Ichigo took a seat on a bench by a tall hedge and observed his surroundings. It was a nice day, even though it looked like rain.

Ichigo watched as Linnette played with Cedric in the park. She looked so innocent as Cedric pushed her on the swings. But Ichigo knew better. After what he had seen, it was hard for him to believe that she had truly changed her ways.

Turned over a new leaf my ass, he thought to himself. He was watching her closely, waiting for her to show her true colors again.

But maybe he was going about this all wrong. After all, it was just her upbringing that made her seem like a bad person. She wasn't really evil. These two just spoiled her rotten and told her that she could have anything she wanted and could do nothing wrong. Now that they were stepping up and acting more like parents to her maybe she really was different.

Maybe I should just give her the benefit of the doubt and see how this goes. Maybe she really is better now than she was then. Ichigo sat on the bench, watching them play, deep in thought.

Then a small boy kicked his ball too high and it landed in Linnette's lap. Her swing slowed to a stop and looked toward the boy running up to her. Cedric took his protective stance beside her as he usually did as if he expected the six year old to pull out a gun or something.

"Sorry about that, miss," he said, holding out his hands. "Can I please have my ball back?"

Linnette looked at the ball and then at Cedric. He nodded and she handed it back to the child with no confrontation. The boy took it and ran back to his mother. Linnette smiled at Cedric and he patted her head.

Ok, Ichigo thought. So that was pretty nice of her. I mean, normally there would have been a scene or something. Maybe she really is a better person.

"Looking for trouble, Ichigo?"

He turned around and saw Victor standing behind him with a paper bag.

"I keep telling you that there is no problem. After all, it is thanks to you that she can no longer sing. So if you're waiting for a swarm of Hollows to show up, don't hold your breath."

Ichigo turned away. "No."

"Very well, then. If you'll excuse me, it's lunch time." He walked towards the two by the swings. "Lunch, sweetie."

They gathered around a park bench, ready to dig in. Victor took out a large sub sandwich and a bag of mini donuts. Linnette made a grab for them first but Victor held them back.

"Nu-uh. After your sandwich."

She pouted but agreed.

Ichigo watched in amazement as the foot-long sub disappeared in a matter of seconds. She always did have an appetite. As promised, Victor handed over her treat. The donuts, too, disappeared quickly. She washed it down with a water bottle given to her by her guardian. Soon after, she was looking forward to playtime yet again. Cedric took her for a walk to work off the meal before doing any fast moving activity like she wanted to do. Soon they were back on the playground, playing tag and going on the merry-go-round. She really did look like a good kid.

She really could have a good life without being a diva and all the discipline of a normal lifestyle. Maybe this was just what she needed. Perhaps she wasn't going to do anything. Perhaps she really had changed, just like her created family. She seemed so happy and no stage was in sight.

Ichigo allowed himself to smile a little. She was growing up into a good person. This girl wasn't a hopeless case after all. Maybe believing in people's best wasn't such a fairytale after all.

Soon, Linnette's energy had run low and she sat on the ground panting. "I'm done. I wanna go now."

Cedric nodded and picked her up. She clung to his shoulders as he piggybacked her out of the park. Victor followed, grinning.

He was grinning. That same old grin as before. Victor's grin.

Frowning, Ichigo got up and followed them. Maybe she was good, but what about them? They could still be up to their old tricks.

That's right! It was Victor who turned all those people into Hollows, not Linnette. He hadn't told her about the serum he created. That was all his doing. She had no idea. Perhaps it wasn't Linnette he should be worrying about but them instead.

He followed them to a hotel near the park. Cedric and Linnette went in, but Victor remained behind. Without turning, he addressed Ichigo. "Why are you here?"

Ichigo didn't answer him.

"You still don't trust us? Aren't you satisfied yet?"

"I don't think she's evil. I realized that a while ago. She just was being brought up wrong."

"And now?"

Ichigo thought. "It's a lot better than before. But I'm still not sure about you guys."

Victor turned. "Oh?"

"Yeah. How do I know that you've really changed? You say that you're different, but how do I know for sure? You could be putting on an act yourself. You're Victor 2.0, huh? Well, that means that you're still Victor."

He smiled as if he were proud that Ichigo had thought of the answer on his own. "Is that right? Then I suppose we could see more of each other, hm? Then again, we're not going to be here for very long. We're only visiting Karakura Town for a little while. We're not staying. In a few days, you won't have to worry about us anymore."

Yeah, unless they're gonna pull something somewhere else where I'm not gonna be around to stop them. He had to solve this now before it came to that.

"What's with the look, Ichigo? Have I said something?"

Ichigo turned away.

He chuckled. "Linnette does like you, you know. She will want to see you again. I hope you realize that."

"Whatever."

"Then you're fine with that?"

"I never said that. It would just make keeping an eye on you guys a lot easier."

Victor smiled. "Whatever you say, Ichigo. In the meantime, I have a child to tend to. Pardon me." He gave Ichigo a dramatic bow as if mocking him and went inside the hotel.

Ichigo glared at him the whole time and finally turned and left for home once Victor was completely out of sight.

Victor rode the elevator to the fourth floor and got off, walking past several maids and passersby in the long carpeted hall. He arrived at the door and inserted the room key. He found Linnette jumped on the bed, hopping from one to the other in the small hotel room. Cedric stood nearby, spotting her. Once she spotted Victor, she threw her legs into the air and allowed herself to fall onto the mattress and bounce to a stop.

"Victor! What took you?"

"Sorry, my dear. I was talking." He sat on the bed beside her and welcomed her into his lap. "Did you have fun today?"

She nodded. "I had a great time! It was tons of fun. And Ichigo was there the whole time. He never left or anything. It was great."

"Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself."

She retold everything they did that day, sparing no detail. She bounced off his lap and acted out various things around the hotel room. She climbed onto one of the beds and jumped to the other, imitating what she had done on the jungle gym. Cedric and Victor both smiled at her antics, happy that she was happy.

Later that evening, after they returned from dinner, Linnette had her shower and asked Victor to tuck her in. He helped the nightdress-clad girl into bed and tucked her in. But she was still excited. He sat with her, rubbing her arm tucked under the blankets.

She moved her head a little closer to him. "Know what? Ichigo didn't leave me all day."

Victor nodded.

"I didn't do or say anything to make him stay. He actually stayed with me on his own. And we had fun."

"You're fond of him, aren't you?"

She nodded, blushing slightly. "Yeah."

Victor smiled. "Shame you can't see his better half, isn't is?"

Her smile went away. "Better half?"

"His Hollow. You like him a lot, hm?"

"No. Ichigo."

He looked down. "Hm?"

"Ichigo. I really like Ichigo."

"But before you told us that it was his Hollow that you cared for. Ichigo was just the package."

She looked down, thinking. "Well… Actually, I said I liked him more because he was the one who wanted to be with me. He was the one who liked me. Ichigo kept trying to get away. I never said I didn't like him. I do. But at the time, I liked his Hollow more because he did what I wanted and cared about me. Not Ichigo."

"Indeed?"

She nodded. "But Ichigo cares, too. I know that now. He just… wanted me to be better. He wanted me to be happy without having to control people and keep them locked up."

"I see…"

There was a long silence. Then she spoke again.

"I really do like Ichigo. He's a good friend."

Victor stopped rubbing her arm. Their eyes met. "Sweetie… Do you ever… miss it? You're voice?"

Linnette gave it some thought. "A little. Yes. I do like singing, but…" She covered her face with the blanket. "It's all gone now."

"If you could, would you like it back? Would you ever like to sing again?"

She poked her head out to meet his gaze. "Well… yeah. I would."

Victor gave her a bittersweet look and kissed her forehead. "Well, that's nothing to think of right now, is it? Time for bed."

She rolled over. "Good-night."

"Good-night, sweetie."

Cedric came over and kissed her as well. "Sweet dreams."

Let's see where this leads us, shall we? Please review! ^^