Rukia sighed, looking up from her sketchbook full of bunnies. "I'm so bored. Want to go watch a movie?"

"In public? With you? No thanks." Ichigo mumbled, his eyes fixated on the screen in front of him. This freaking level is impossible! He dodged just in time as a pencil flew sailing at his head like a dart. The pencil tapped the screen as the announcer in the game said, "K.O." The monstrous character that reminded him of Mayuri cackled in victory.

"Dammit, Rukia!" Ichigo exclaimed. "You just made me lose!"

Rukia scoffed, "You've been trying to beat that boss for days, don't you dare pin this on me."

With a growl, Ichigo tossed the game controller on the carpet. "If only I could use my Bankai in that damn game…" His thoughts were interrupted by a beeping from Rukia's cell phone. "Please tell me that's a hollow," he spoke. "I really need to kick someone's ass today."

"You're in luck," Rukia said, turning her phone around so Ichigo could see the screen. "There are three."

"Finally!" Ichigo pulled the soul badge out of his pocket and pressed it against his chest. His spiritual body was immediately separated from its moral shell. Ichigo watched as his own body slumped lifeless on the floor. Rukia popped a candy into her mouth from a dispenser and her spirit body was pulled out as well. "Chappy," she spoke to the artificial spirit in her gigai, "Find Kon and put him into Ichigo's body. We'll be back soon."

"Will do, Kuchiki-sama!" Rukia's body waved and grinned enthusiastically. Chappy kept waving, even after the two Shinigami's jumped out Ichigo's bedroom window.

"Where are they?" Ichigo asked, following close behind Rukia as she bounded from rooftop to rooftop.

Rukia watched her cell phone screen as three red dots moved around slowly. "By the park," she answered. "We're close now."

As the park came into view, three very large hollows swam in the air. They were all serpentine shaped creatures hunting for a tasty soul to devour. Their empty, metallic screams filled the air. When they smelled the large spirit power of the Shinigami approach, they pulled their bodies to attack.

Ichigo was the first to strike, his zanpaktou unwrapping as he grabbed it from his back. He wanted to drag the fight out a little, needing some release after losing his video game. He sliced Zangetsu cleanly through all three hollows, cutting their bodies into smaller bits.

Big mistake.

Rukia drew her sword as she watched the mangled pieces of the squirming hollow suddenly spasm and sprout new masks, lengthening their bodies. What were three hollows were now at least fifteen. Nice going, Ichigo. She gritted her teeth with frustration. He would never learn. "Baka!" she screamed at him.

She had killed at least four of the hollows by slicing through their masks by the time she felt another presence on the scene. "Howl, Zabimaru!" she heard a familiar voice shout out.

"Renji, no!" Rukia yelled to the hot-tempered redhead, but it was too late. Cocky, arrogant Renji perched on a telephone pole looking smug. His smile dropped when he saw that the pieces of the creature regenerated itself into multiple hollows. "Oh crap," she saw him mouth.

Rukia surveyed the area. What Ichigo had made into fifteen hollows—even minus the four she killed—Renji had turned into over thirty. The tangled, slimy mess gyrated around in front of the three Shinigami. "Renji, you idiot! Didn't you recognize what kind of hollows these were?!" She felt a vein on her head about to pop from anger.

Renji gave her a crooked smile and a glare. "Sorry, Rukia. You know I've never been the book type."

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Tatsuki heard the tiny ring of a bell on the door as she exited the bakery. It was a quiet summer night and the weather was getting warmer every day. The summer festival, Tanabata—The Evening of the Seventh—was still a few weeks away, but stores were already selling yukatas, printed materials and other traditional accessories. She was tempted to browse through the items but the fresh sweet bread she was carrying made her stomach growl with hunger.

Her parents wouldn't be upset if one roll was missing, would they? Tatsuki began to open the bag of still steaming bread but stopped when she heard a small sob. She spun her head to see where the noise came from to find a young girl leaning against the building of the bakery store silently crying. The Good Samaritan in Tatsuki won out over the hunger pains in her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Tatsuki walked over to the girl. The child suddenly looked up at her with huge silver eyes filled with tears. "I'm lost," said the girl. A dark purple bang stuck to her face by her damp cheeks.

Tatsuki leaned down so she was at eye-level with the child. "I can help you," she spoke with kind eyes and a small smile. "I'm Tatsuki. What's your name?"

The little girl sniffled and rubbed the back of her hand against her runny nose. "Ben-Ten."

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Orihime sat in her studio apartment, arranging pictures in a scrapbook from over the year. So many things had changed this year it was an odd array of shots. At the beginning it was just her, Tatsuki and a few other girls from their class. Then, pictures of Ichigo, Rukia, Ishida and Chad slowly began to fill the void in her life. Low and behold, Urahara, Yoruichi, Renji and others from the Soul Society world began to show up, adding in more faces to her circle of friends.

Then there was suddenly a gap.

There were no photos of snowmen and snow fights. No happy group huddled together from the cold, drinking coffee or hot chocolate. The entire winter season was missing. Her opportunities for making more memories had been stolen from her.

The Winter War.

And she had become a willing servant of Aizen.

She felt herself stiffen from the sudden flush of memories being captive in Hueco Mundo. She wished those thoughts were like these photos in front of her. If the photo didn't come out right, she could just throw it away and forget about it. But memories weren't like photos that could be easily discarded. They stayed in her mind, always lurking behind her actions.

Orihime shook her head, trying to shake out the morbid thoughts. She was okay now, back here with friends and people she loved. She turned her attention to newer pictures from the beginning of her school year as their 11th year started back in April. There weren't many, but there were enough to make a few pages of new memories filled with smiling faces.

Something caught her eye as she flipped through the new images. Ichigo held a fake smile until Rukia started showing up in shots. Those pictures stung, to see Ichigo change from pretending to be happy, to actually being happy when Rukia was around. And if they weren't smiling in a shot, they were fighting. Swallowing her feelings, she picked out the best two of that series to put in her scrapbook: one of them smiling, one of them fighting.

The next image caught her attention even more: a picture of Ishida looking into the camera as she framed the shot. At first glance he seemed distant as usual, but when she took a closer look there was something there. His gaze was intense, longing, and a little sad. He seemed to want something but kept it in close so no one could see. His eyes were so conflicted with emotion she felt herself grow nervous as if she found a secret.

Suddenly, Orihime snapped her head around the moment she felt a reiatsu spike. Ichigo was fighting. Then another two hit her in waves. Rukia and Renji were also in combat. It was only a matter of time before the hollow attack spilled further.

Determined to help, Orihime left her pictures scattered on the floor to join the battle.

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PLEASE READ AND REVIEW

Updates on Tuesdays and Fridays!

I will keep the rating "T" after some reviews came in. There won't be any lemons, gore, or extreme language.

As usual Thank You to Pippin's Socks for Beta reading!