A/N: Special thanks to mockingbird shadow and ichigo1508 for my first reviews.

Can't you hear me, Ari? Where are you? I'm waiting. I've been trapped for far too long.

Ari shuddered. She was back in that terrible cramped, dark place. Her wings longed to stretch for the first time. Wait-her wings?

Who are you? She asked. Silence. Then-

I am your-

Ari woke up in a cold sweat. Light. Warmth. Pain. She stretched out her fingers, trying to rid herself of that feeling of claustrophobia.

There's not much time left. A voice whispered in the back of her mind before the feeling disappeared.

"Ari? You awake kid?"

Ari turned her head from the brown leather couch. Kousuke walked towards her, a cup in one hand, the other hand cupped. Pills.

"Here, take these. Ayaka said they would help while you healed," he said, handing them to her. Without a fuss, Ari downed them. The throbbing in her shoulder was ever painful. Kousuke let out a breath, and Ari caught the worry in his eyes.

"Hang on." He said, and walked off. He returned with a washcloth. Kousuke gently pushed away Ari's side bangs and wiped her forehead free of sweat.

"From the way you were shivering, I was getting worried about you. I was about to grab the electric blanket when you woke up."

"Thanks." Ari said, touched. She sat up groggily. Her head spun, and she put a hand to it, leaning against the back of the couch for support until the world quit twirling annoyingly.

"Ayaka also said you're on strictly bedrest for the next three days, to allow your body to recover the blood you lost." Kousuke said. Ari groaned. Three whole days? Great. At least there was TV.

"How did I get here?" she asked. Kousuke furrowed his left eyebrow.

"You don't remember? I helped you to the car, and then you passed out. You gained consciousness as we drove up to the backdrive, mumbled that you wanted to watch TV when you got up, and then fell asleep again."

Ari blinked, confused. What? …Whatever.

"We have a backdrive?"

Kousuke grinned.

"Yes, of course. It's the only way cars get in. Though mind you, it's hidden."

"You and your damn hide-away spots." Ari growled, causing Kousuke to chuckle. After a moment, something crossed Ari's mind.

"Where's Chihiro?"

At the sound of her name, the ghost appeared at her side.

"I had to stay hidden. Those were Soul Reapers." She explained, unbeknownst to Kousuke.

"Who?" he asked, puzzled. Ari shook her head.

"Nevermind. I'm thirsty..do you think you could-

"Orange or apple?" Kousuke asked with a grin. Finally. It was un-nerving, having him stare at her with that stupid worried look on his face.

"Apple."

Without another word, Kousuke got up and walked into the kitchen.

"How are you feeling?" Chihiro asked. Damn. She had that worried look on her face too.

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt." Ari lied. Chihiro nodded.

"Chihiro? What's a….hollow?" Ari had to rack her brain to remember what those monster things were called. Chihiro turned her gaze to the floor. She kicked at an imaginary stone with her sandals.

"Chihi-

"Alright then. Apple juice it is." Kousuke announced, his footsteps giving him away before he appeared. Ari clamped her mouth shut, giving Chihiro the 'I'm not letting this go' look. Chihiro disappeared with another pop. Ari sighed, then plastered on a smile for Kousuke as he appeared, carrying a mug with horses running across the front of it.

"Here you go, kiddo. Anything else I can get you?"

"Yea, a way to get out of bed rest," Ari replied, sipping the juice. The sips turned into large gulps, and she downed the entire mug. Kousuke ruffled her hair.

"Not today, kiddo."

"Hey! Where's my hat?" Ari demanded, pulling on a jacket that was hanging on the standing coat rack beside her.

"I threw it away." Kousuke said flatly.

"What? That was a good hat! One of my favorites!" Ari complained. And it had been on sale three years ago-how was she supposed to find one to replace it?

"It was covered in blood."

"Oh." Ari said, immediately regretting her complaints. Kousuke rolled his eyes under his thick eyebrows.

"Kid, you and your damn hats."

"Hey, everyone needs a hobby." Ari pointed out.

"Yea. But yours has to be weird."

"Yep." Ari responded smugly, earning another eye roll from Kousuke.

"In the meantime, I'm staying home with you until you're off of bed rest-to make sure you do the rest part."

Damn it all to hell.

"Not even one walk a day? Seriously?" Ari pleaded.

"'Fraid not, kid. You're far too prone to injury. I let you take one step outside and you'll break your ankle."

Growling, Ari yanked a pillow up and threw it at him with her good arm. He blocked it with his fore-arm, chuckling.

"All right then, scrabble or chess?" He asked, going to a cabinet next to the TV.

"Scrabble."

"Loser has to pay for pizza." Kousuke challenged, for a moment looking younger than his thirty eight years. Ari grinned.

"You're on."

The next few hours were filled with triumph and failure. Round one led to a round two, and after round three, they broke out the chess board.

"Why even bother? I'll just beat you again," Ari teased, grinning.

"Scrabble is a kid's game. This is the big boy stuff." Kousuke said confidently, setting up his side of the board.

"Whatever," Ari rolled her eyes, biting into her piece of cheese pizza.

The doorbell rang unexpectedly.

"I'll get it." Kousuke offered, and got up. Ari rolled her eyes. It was Kousuke's way of babying her.

"Hey, Ari, some friends of yours are here to see you."

Huh? Friends? She didn't even SEE anyone besides the monster, Chihiro, and carrot top, let alone make friends. Still.

"Let them in." She called.

"It's the Soul Reaper!" Chihiro's voice came out of nowhere. Looking back, Ari caught a glimpse of Chihiro's brown hair behind the TV.

That couldn't be. She was sure carrot top was a spirit, and so her uncle wouldn't have been able to see him.

"Hey." A familiar voice sounded. She looked up. Well be damned. It was carrot top. A dark haired girl stood next to him, dwarfed by his height.

"Hi Natsuki. I heard you went home early today. We were all so worried about you." The girl said in a way too sugary sweet voice.

"Well…I'll wash the dishes. You kids can have a few minutes to talk to Ari, but that's all. She needs her rest."

Hypocritical bastard.

"That's okay. We only wanted to talk with her for a few minutes anyways." That dark haired girl said in her singsong voice as Kousuke disappeared around the corner.

"Okay, who are you? I know carrot top over there, so no introduction needed for him, but you're another story." Ari said bluntly. Ichigo's eyes narrowed. The girl broke into a grin.

"Oh, my name is Kutchki Rukia. But you can call me Rukia." The girl responded, too sugary sweet, curtseying dramatically. It was obviously an act.

"Why are you here? How did you even FIND this place?"

"Your spirit energy is hard to miss." Carrot top said plainly. Rukia hit him on the head with a coiled fist.

"Hey! What the hell was that for-

"Oh silly. He doesn't know what he's talking about-

"Cut the crap."

"What?" Rukia's eyebrow twitched, a moment where her mask faltered. Ari went on.

"Your act is so easy to see through. If you're going to talk to me, talk to me plainly."

The mask fell off, revealing a more serious girl.

Just what I expected. Ari mused.

"Why are you here?"

"Fine. We've come to replace your memories. Soul Reaper business is a very serious thing, and we can't have you blabbing." Rukia said, reaching into a pocket in her light blue skirt.

"The hell you are!" Ari exclaimed, jumping back, clutching her shoulder so it didn't jostle.

"Don't struggle. It's better this way. You can continue your life as a normal high school student, and your shoulder can be easily healed without questions arising," Rukia said, gripping Ari's shoulder. Somehow she seemed to have magically appeared there. Ari looked over at Ichigo.

"You're seriously just going to stand there?"

"What choice do I have? Its orders."

Damn it. Ari bolted for the door, feeling a narrowly missed spray at the back of her head from the spray can she supposed would take her memories. The door gave way to her weight and hand immediately, swinging open. She bolted for the forest, wondering where Chihiro was. Maybe Chihiro could lift her up out of harms way or something. Then again, Chihiro seemed pretty scared of these Soul Reaper people.

"You're only making it worse for yourself!" She heard Rukia's voice right behind her. Ari pushed herself harder, ducking under branches, jumping over logs, wincing whenever a branch hit her bad shoulder. If she hadn't tripped, she might've missed it. But there-to her left, down the incline that way, an opening. A cave. A hiding place.

She heard the branches crack no more than fifty yards behind her. There was no time! She jogged down the slope, pushing against tree trunks to aid her speed. White hot pain ripped through her torso. Her stitches had torn open. Ari felt the wet warmth of blood seep down into her clothes. Gross. But the small cave was right in front of her. She reached the bottom of the hill, pushed off from the incline, and launched herself into the dark hole diver style.

She crawled as far into the cave as it would allow. Darkness swallowed the light that should have been streaming down inside. Her back against the back of the cave, she let herself rest for a minute.

"She's in that cave! Come on!" Rukia's voice floated over.

"Damn! How far did she run?" Ichigo asked, obviously out of breath.

"About six miles." Came the reply.

Ari stiffened, reaching around for anything to use for self defense. Her hand hit a large smooth stone. She used both hands to grab the stone, and shoved it into the inside pocket of her jacket. The larger rock would have to be used as a last resort-it would do her no good to chuck her strongest weapon only to have it not work.

She scraped her hands along the dirt, finding a couple of smaller rocks.

"Hey, there you are!" Ichigo's head popped in the cave's entrance. Ari chucked a rock at him.

"Ouch! Damn it! What did you do that for?"

"Ichigo! Stop fooling around!" Rukia's voice scolded.

"Who said I was fooling around? She threw a rock at me!"

"You poor baby."

"Shut up!"

Ari resisted an eye roll. Rukia's face popped in the entrance too.

"You may as well come out. You're cornered."

Ari decidedly popped another rock at Rukia. Unfortunately Rukia caught it.

"Its just as well." She said. Then she took the spray bottle, and before Ari could protest, sprayed it into the cave, leaving a mist. Ari breathed it in, and…nothing. She just felt sleepy. Rukia looked at her expectantly. Realizing she would have to play along, Ari let her eyes drift shut, and fell backwards, flinching only in her face when her shoulder slammed against the dirt. She hoped the darkness would cover that.

"Ok. Now we just need to heal the wound that hollow gave her and replace her shirt." Rukia's voice drifted over to her. Ari nearly smiled. Obviously, the darkness had hid her flinch.

"What? Why are you replacing her shirt?"

"To get rid of the blood, idiot."

"What?"

"You really are dense. Even if her memories are replaced, if she wakes up with blood all over her shirt, there's going to be questions that arise."

"Oh. Right. I knew that."

Ari heard footsteps come closer to her. She did her best to act like a limp doll as Rukia came up to her. A strange tingling began over her shoulder, and then the pain completely disappeared.

"There her wound's completely healed."

What? The unanswered question drifted across Ari's mind as she finally drifted off, succumbing to the sleepiness.

Ari came to as they brought her back to her house.

"What the hell did you do to Ari?" Kousuke's voice was livid. A spraying sound, and then a thump. Groggy, Ari half opened her eyes, and saw that Ichigo was carrying her to her room. She went under again.