Yuzu hummed a tune happily to herself. School had just been let out. She was used to walking back home on her own since her twin normally had soccer club activities. "Karin-chan said she wanted yakisoba for dinner tonight, so I better go to the grocery store."

Yuzu skipped along the sidewalk, swinging her schoolbag cheerfully as she went. "So strange. Karin-chan normally asks for her favorite, nikujaga." Yuzu's hop in her step faltered slightly. "Karin-chan hasn't asked for it since the night that car crashed into the house."

A strange flash of Karin's panicked face came across Yuzu's mind. Yuzu gulped and tried to return the skip in her step. Why did I think of Karin-chan panicked? We were both asleep by the time that car crashed into the house.

Another strange flash appeared again. Yuzu was tripping while running up the stairs. Hmm? I haven't tripped on the stairs in so long.

The final image that flashed before her eyes was Ichigo screaming with his hands behind his back and a black figure standing next to him. Yuzu held a hand up to her forehead. Why am I thinking of these things?

Yuzu shook her head. She had arrived at her destination: the grocery store. Yuzu tried to push the thoughts out of her head and focus on getting fresh ingredients for tonight's dinner.

Unfortunately, Yuzu couldn't help herself. Her mind started to wander. Ever since that night, Karin-chan seemed to be so on edge and distant. Her brother would take a lot of naps in the middle of the day. And her father seemed to be going on his nightly excursions more and more often. Even Yuzu was feeling strange. Whenever she recalled that night, her mind would dredge up images that didn't make any sense. I wonder…

"Ah! Yuzu-chan!" A voice cut off Yuzu's thoughts.

Yuzu turned at the sound of her name. She smiled when she recognized the person immediately. "Hello, Orihime-san! How are you today?"

Orihime giggled, "I'm doing well. Just doing some grocery shopping for dinner!"

Yuzu smiled, "Me too, actually!" Yuzu held out her basket. "Karin-chan asked me to make yakisoba." Yuzu looked down at Orihime's basket. Onions, butter, bananas, and gelatin. Yuzu looked at it with fascination. I wonder what she's going to make.

"Wow! Sounds delicious!" Orihime smiled. "I'm about ready to pay. I'll walk with you until you finish!"

"Oh, actually, I'm almost done too. I just need to buy a couple onions."

"They're on sale! Come on!" Orihime led Yuzu over to the produce aisle.

Yuzu smiled happily, pushing all her thoughts of that strange night to the back of her mind. "Thank you, Orihime-san!" The two of them walked side by side. "How is high school?" Yuzu asked, creating small talk.

"It's great! Your brother is always so interesting."

Yuzu looked at Orihime with an inquisitive look on her face. "Interesting? What do you mean?" She started grabbing different onions, trying to pick a suitable one.

"He's been late to class a lot lately," Orihime put a finger to her chin in thought. "He asks to use the restroom a lot, and it seems that Kuchiki-san needs to take him to the nurse a lot too."

Yuzu turned to Orihime. "Kuchiki-san?"

"Oh, you haven't met her? She just moved here recently. She and Kurosaki-kun are together a lot," Orihime looked down at the ground. "There's a rumor going around that they're dating." Orihime smiled at Yuzu, erasing the sad expression she had earlier. "But, if Yuzu-chan hasn't heard of her, I guess it's just a rumor!"

"Yeah…" Yuzu agreed in a soft voice.

Orihime noticed the troubled look on Yuzu's face. "You've picked one, right, Yuzu-chan? Come on, let's go pay so we can get started on cooking!"

After the two paid for their groceries and started walking toward the residential area of Karakura, the topic of conversation had shifted over to plans for the weekend. "I'm inviting Tatsuki-chan over tonight actually! We're planning to eat dinner and then watch 'Ghost Bust!'"

Yuzu got a starry look in her eyes. "I love 'Ghost Bust!'" A glint appeared in Yuzu's eyes. "Spirits are…"

"… always with you!"

"Bo-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Yuzu and Orihime performed the signature tagline of Don Kanonji's show together. The two of them giggled.

"I wouldn't have expected Tatsuki-san to be a fan of 'Ghost Bust.'"

Orihime giggled, "She's not. She just comes over to my apartment so that I won't be lonely watching it."

Yuzu's expression fell. "That's nice of her," she said with a gentle smile. "The only one who watches it with me is my dad, but he's away tonight. Karin-chan and Onii-chan don't really like the show."

Orihime offered a half smile. "If you'd like, you're welcome to come over tonight too! Whenever you finish with dinner!"

Yuzu was taken aback. She hadn't expected Orihime to make such an offer. "Really? Thank you, Orihime-san!" Yuzu thought to herself. Lately, Ichigo had been coming back late for dinner, and Karin-chan seemed to take a while with soccer club practice too. "I'll pack some yakisoba and bring it over once I finish cooking, then!"

Orihime smiled cheerfully, "I can't wait!"

The two of them resumed their walk, discussing their admiration for Don Kanonji and his ability to see and fight spirits. They stopped at the crosswalk and waited for the walk signal to appear. When it did, Orihime took a few steps ahead of Yuzu to give herself some more room to do her impression of Tatsuki. "And then she kicked like thi—"

A car sped down the street, screeching as it made its approach towards Yuzu and Orihime. There was a parked car blocking Yuzu, so she would be safe. But, Orihime was further out in the street. "Orihime-san!" Yuzu shouted, dropping her bag of groceries and reaching a hand toward her, desperately hoping that she could grab a hold of Orihime and pull her back.

"Look out!" A shout rang out. Orihime was suddenly colliding with Yuzu, knocking the both of them to the ground.

There was a strange presence that Yuzu sensed, and it made her blood chill. Something about that presence reminded Yuzu of the strange flashes that she had been getting.

"I'm so sorry, Yuzu-chan!" Orihime exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. She started grabbing Yuzu's dropped groceries and school bag. She extended her hand to Yuzu, offering to help her stand up too. "Are you okay, Yuzu-chan?"

Yuzu nodded slowly, taking Orihime's hand. She reassured Orihime that she was fine, and poor Orihime apologized to her repeatedly. The car hadn't stopped. It had just driven away. "I'm glad you're okay, Yuzu-chan," Orihime said, passing the bag of groceries and school bag back to Yuzu.

Despite Yuzu's claim that she was fine, she actually felt like she was going to be sick.

Because she could have sworn that she saw a black hand grab Orihime's leg.

And the shout of "Look out!" wasn't from Orihime or Yuzu.

After cooking the yakisoba, Yuzu placed the food in the refrigerator. She gathered her own small container of it, left a note for her siblings about where she would be, and then departed for Orihime's apartment.

Yuzu made the short walk over to the apartment complex in just 15 minutes. "Inoue…" Yuzu whispered to herself as she searched for Orihime's apartment number and the button to buzz her in. Just as she found the number, another resident was leaving the building. She thanked him as he held the door open for her, and Yuzu made her way over to the stairs.

Yuzu did her best to put the disturbing flashbacks and what she thought she sensed at the crosswalk earlier that day in the back of her mind. Tonight would be a fun get-together with Orihime and Tatsuki. They could both enjoy an evening of eating dinner and watching a TV show about the excitement of exorcising spirits.

Yuzu knocked on Orihime's apartment door. "Orihime-san! I'm here! Sorry, I'm a little late."

She waited outside the door for a minute. "Hm?" Yuzu knocked on the door again. "Orihime-san? Tatsuki-san? Are you in there?"

At that moment, Yuzu heard a thud against the door and a loud crash from within the apartment. Yuzu gasped when she thought she heard a struggled cry from Tatsuki. "Orihime-san! Tatsuki-san!" Yuzu started pounding at the door now. She tried to open the door, but it was locked.

A much louder cry of pain came from inside now, and Yuzu started to feel desperate. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The police! I should call the police! Yuzu started to fish for her cellphone in her purse.

"Stay away! What is this thing? I can't see!" Tatsuki's shouts were audible through the door.

A horrible screech came from within, and Yuzu froze, her eyes wide. Suddenly, she wasn't standing in front of a closed apartment door. She was in her kitchen, staring down a distortion. She was running through her kitchen, up the stairs to desperately call for help from her brother.

The ringtone from Yuzu's cellphone broke her reverie. Yuzu shakily brought the phone to her ear. "Onii-chan…"

"Yuzu! Are you okay!? You're at Inoue's place, right!?" Ichigo's voice sounded utterly panicked.

"Onii-chan…" Yuzu felt tears start to stream down her cheeks. She could hear the anguished cries of pain from Tatsuki and the crashes within the apartment. "Something is in the apartment," Yuzu sobbed, falling to her knees in front of the apartment door.

"Don't worry, Yuzu! I'll be there soon!"

Yuzu dropped the phone, sobbing and squeezing her fists. I can't do anything… If it was Onii-chan or Karin-chan, they would just break down this door. But me… I…

A flashback of Yuzu collapsing to the floor in front of her brother's room appeared behind her closed lids.

It's happening again, and I can't do anything! Yuzu's tears fell freely from her eyes now. All the pent-up frustration and denial was released at once.

Be strong, Yuzu. Our strength lies not within brute force but in resourcefulness and willpower.

Yuzu's eyes shot open. She slowly stood up. Almost like she was having an out-of-body experience, she reached her hand toward the door knob again. But this time, she felt some guiding force pushing her hand to where the door met the frame, presumably where the deadbolt was holding the door shut. She closed her eyes and started to focus. Her hand started to feel warmer and warmer. Yuzu opened her eyes again when she felt the door give way.

Yuzu shoved the door open, barely noticing that the deadbolt appeared to be sliced cleanly in half.

"Orihime-san! Tatsuki-san!" Yuzu shouted, trying to locate her two friends.

"Yuzu-chan… Run away…" Tatsuki wheezed. She was floating in the air, grabbing at her neck.

No… not floating… Yuzu thought to herself as a hazy black image began to form. What is that thing? It's like a giant snake… Yuzu gasped as the monster turned to look at her. A white mask…

"What is this intruder doing in our home, Orihime!?" Yuzu could hear the monster interrogating Orihime, who was trying to call out to Tatsuki.

Yuzu looked at the monster in confusion. Our home…?

"How dare you bring another person here to the apartment that I worked so hard to pay for!?"

Orihime looked at the monster with a look of confusion. "That voice… Onii… chan…?" Orihime started to take a few steps toward the monster. "Is it really you, Onii-chan?"

"Orihime-san, don't!" Yuzu yelled out to Orihime. "Kya!" The monster's tail swiped at Yuzu, and she crashed into the wall. It knocked the wind out of her. The feeling was so familiar.

"Yuzu-chan!" This time, Orihime had called out to her and rushed to her side. Yuzu blinked, trying to focus her vision.

"Eh…? Two… Orihime-sans," Yuzu noted. One was laying on the ground, the other was kneeling at her side. Both had some kind of strange chain protruding from their chests that connected them.

The monster screeched, dropping Tatsuki to the ground, and Yuzu was on alert again. "Orihime-san!" Yuzu mustered up all her strength and shoved Orihime out of the way as the monster made a grab for her. Yuzu found herself in the clutches of the black and red serpent. Even though she felt like it was squeezing the life out of her, she could see the image of it becoming more and more lucid. The monster slammed her into the ground, and her back throbbed from the impact. For some reason, she could feel her left hand burning again and a deep voice calling out to her in the back of her mind.

"Yuzu!" A slash of a katana caused a spray of blood to appear before Yuzu's eyes. Before she lost consciousness, she thought she saw her brother wearing black robes.

Hopefully, this chapter was more exciting since it's a bit different from canon. And perhaps gives you a preview of the kind of significant roles that the Kurosaki family could have played, given their lineage.

Feedback is would be very much appreciated!