Chapter 4- Getting farther in 'Agent of the Shinigami' arc. Some cannon events will be changed, because of Hiori's involvement. Sticking with the manga as opposed to anime. Sayings in front of chapters are taken from the beginning pages of the manga chapter that I start with- I DO NOT OWN BLEACH. Thanks for the reviews, they're always much appreciated!


"People are able to hold onto hope, since Death is that which cannot be seen."


"It's true!" Orihime insisted, staring at her friends, who were all casting her doubtful looks. "A sumo wrestler came to my room and shot a bazooka at the wall!" Ichigo and Rukia had only just made it into class, and it was still very early in the morning, but already things were so rowdy. Ichigo made a face, listening intently in an attempt to grasp exactly what Orihime was going on about.

"You and you're imagination,"

"Orihime..."

"Well, actually, I like that childish brain of hers." Ichigo sighed. He would have thought that people like Shinigami could have supplied Orihime with a much better memory, but unfortunately for her, she had been stuck with one so wholly unbelievable it was just sad. Her friends clearly weren't buying any of it, and for a moment he kind of felt bad- She had no idea that it wasn't real.

"It's true, right, Tatsuki-chan?" she asked, tugging on her best friend's sleeve to gain her attention. For some reason, the dark haired girl was highly distracted, and Ichigo watched as she continued glancing around the classroom as if she were expecting someone.

"Oh... Yeah..." she muttered, continuing to look uncomfortable.

"See! Tatsuki-chan says this, too!" Orihime cried, and Ichigo made a face, turning to Rukia.

"It really is random," he sighed, and Rukia nodded. "You used that on my family the other day, right?"

"Yeah. It works well, right?" she replied, and Ichigo raised an eyebrow, pointing indescreatly in Orihime's direction.

"You call that 'working well'?" he asked, forming quotations with his fingers in the air as he quoted Rukia's previous words, earning himself a hard glare from the tiny girl. They took their seats, which were side by side, and the class calmed down as the teacher entered. Ichigo glanced over at Tatsuki, who still looked uneasy.

"Alright, to start-" No sooner had the teacher started speaking, the door to the classroom slammed open. A tall girl with long burgundy hair stood in the open door, breathing heavily, her mouth open slightly as she desperately attempted to catch her breath.

"No... Nobody panic, I'm..." she continued to gulp in air, and Ichigo and Rukia exchanged glances. It was the girl from the night before. "I'm here. Every thing's fine." she muttered, mostly to herself, as she shut the door behind her. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, letting his eyes run over her body briefly, taking in her appearance. She wore the standard uniform, although instead of a bow around her neck like most of the girls in the class she wore a solid red tie, which was knotted loosely around her neck. Her collar was slightly wrinkled, most likely from sprinting here, Ichigo guessed, and her shirt was unbuttoned slightly more than necessary. He had to turn away quickly to keep his eyes from traveling any lower than they had already.

"Ah... I'm sorry, who...?" the teacher stuttered, staring at Hiori in surprise. Tatsuki stood up swiftly, her chair crashing loudly into the desk behind her. Taking a deep breath, she pointed at the red head in an accusatory manner, her face set in a scowl.

"YOU IDIOT. YOU OVERSLEPT!" she bellowed, and Hiori cringed, covering her ears. Ichigo's eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, his mind scrambling to fit the puzzle pieces together carefully in his head. Last night, Hiori had said something about a sister. She had also seemed to know Orihime, as well as Tatsuki. As his mind searched through his memories, he remembered Tatsuki once mentioning something about her family thinking about foster care, although he hadn't really hung out with the girl one on one in quite a while. Could this girl possibly be Tatsuki's foster sister.

"It's your fault, you spent the night at Orihime's!" Hiori accused, glaring just as heatedly as Tatsuki was. The teacher was looking more and more flustered, but her voice was being overpowered by Tatsuki's and Hiori's argument, as well as the many questions now being asked of Tatsuki.

"Tatsuki, who's this?" one of Orihime's friends asked, eyeing the angry red head curiously.

"Ah, yes, miss, please intr-" the teacher was cut off by Tatsuki once again.

"It's not my job to wake you up, you dummy!" she retorted, crossing her arms.

"Then don't complain about it, dummy!" Hiori barked, copying Tatsuki's movements and crossing her own arms. It was silent for about a minute, and Ichigo was suppressing a slight smirk. This had to be the most ridiculous entrance he had ever witnessed in his life, and his father was Kurosaki Isshin, King of Ridiculous Entrances.

"Excuse me!" The teacher had finally had enough, and she set a stern glare on both Tatsuki and Hiori. "Now. Please introduce yourself," she instructed, handing Hiori a piece of chalk. She made a face, eyeing the chalk strangely before sighing and turning towards the blackboard. Ichigo watched patiently as she carefully spelled out her name. Despite knowing Tatsuki for many years, Ichigo had never once been formally introduced to this girl, and he wondered how long she had been living with the Arisawa family. It couldn't have been too long, as she had only just started going to this school, but it also couldn't have been too recently, or Tatsuki wouldn't be talking to her like that. He would ask, but he didn't want to seem like he cared too much.

Hiori finally stepped away from the board, setting down the piece of chalk and brushing her hands together. The characters that spelled out her name were carefully scrawled on the blackboard, her large blocky handwriting taking up most of the space provided. He heard Rukia breathe in sharply as she read the name, and he turned to her questioningly.

"Hitsu... gaya...?" she whispered, and Ichigo raised his eyebrows. She didn't know this girl, did she? Ichigo was becoming more and more confused by the second, and he didn't even notice as Hiori walked to the back of the class, taking the empty desk directly behind him.

Hiori sat down, attempting to ignore Rukia's incessant staring as she carefully set her school bag on the floor beside her desk. The teacher continued to speak, but Hiori wasn't listening. She had never expected to be in the same class as the orange haired Shinigami, much less his scrawny sidekick. But to be in a class with both of them together, as well as Tatsuki and Orihime, came as quite a surprise. She continued to stare at Ichigo, whose face was turned slightly to the side as he listened to the teacher. Hiori studied his face carefully, still not quite understanding him despite their several past encounters.

His vivid orange hair was just as ridiculous as her hair was, and she was positive that he got just as much flack about his hair color as she did. Back at her old school, she had gotten into several fights over hair color, although she was sure that taking on a group of scrawny little girls was much less impressive than going up against five burly male high schoolers. It was clear which one of them had it worse.

She continued to study his face, her large gray eyes moving to his chocolate brown ones. The neutral color greatly contrasted with the carrot orange locks on top of his head, but before she could look at anything else, his eyes shifted to meet hers.

"What?" he snapped, scowling. Hiori mentally noted that he'd be much more attractive if he didn't scowl so much, although other than that she had no other complaints regarding his looks. He was actually quite attractive. His brows knitted together as she continued to stare- She hadn't planned on saying anything, but Tatsuki happened to catch her eye, and she suddenly remembered the little deal that they had made in their kitchen the night previous.

"Uh... Hi?" she replied, giving him an awkward sort of half-wave. He arched an eyebrow, clearly not getting what she was trying to do. Hiori sighed in defeat, leaning back in her chair as the teacher continued to lecture. After several minutes, Ichigo turned back around to face her, ignoring the teacher as she sent a glare their way.

"So you see ghosts, right?" he asked, keeping his voice level and indifferent. Hiori sat up, placing her arms on her desk and leaning towards him.

"Yeah. I guess I do," she replied, and she felt Rukia look over at them curiously.

"Uh-huh," Ichigo muttered, frowning. He sure seemed to frown an awful lot. "And you're Tatsuki's... Sister?"

"Adopted." she said quickly, and Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows. "Adopted sister." she said, lengthening her sentence so he could better understand. He nodded slowly, absorbing the new found information and turning back around. The rest of the class passed quickly and in silence, Rukia and Hiori occasionally making extremely awkward eye contact before glancing away instantly. Hiori wondered why Rukia suddenly seemed to be so suspicious of her. Finally the bell for lunch rang, and before she could even ask about lunch, Tatsuki had disappeared with Orihime. She sighed, touching her forehead to the top of the desk. She wished she was asleep.

"Hey." a bored voice called, and she looked up to see Ichigo in the doorway. "Come on," he said, looking away as if he were shy about asking Hiori to eat with them. Rukia gave him a look, but he ignored her, motioning for Hiori to hurry it up. She smiled slightly, picking up her bag lunch and following him to the roof. He slumped down, and there was an awkward pause. Hiori watched as he rubbed the skin in between his eyebrows.

"Damn. My wounds sure did heal up fast," he muttered as Hiori removed several onigiri from inside of her brown paper bag. Her face fell slightly, realizing a little too late that packing them in such a way would surely make them collapse into inedible piles of plain white rice, which she hated. Onigiri weren't her favorite to begin with, due to her immense dislike of white rice, but they had been the only edible things in the kitchen that morning, and she had been in a bit of a rush.

"Surprised? You really shouldn't be," Rukia gloated, and Hiori raised an eyebrow. She hadn't pegged the petite girl for the gloating type. "I was top of my class in Kido," she explained, pointedly looking at Hiori, who paused as she was preparing to drop a handful of rice into her open mouth.

"Oh, is this the part where I'm supposed to ask 'What the hell is Kido'?" she said, raising her eyebrows and staring Rukia straight in the eyes. Rukia choked on the piece of bread she had been eating, and Ichigo barely repressed a snicker as Rukia frowned.

"There's a school for Shinigami?" Ichigo asked, as Rukia recovered from her previous choking fit. She nodded in response to Ichigo's question, pulling out a juice box and holding it unnecessarily close to his face.

"Anyways, Ichigo, how do you open this?" she asked innocently, and it was now Ichigo and Hiori's turn to choke.

"Isn't that obvious?" Ichigo asked, pointing at the small container.

"The straw, the straw." Hiori explained, but Rukia still didn't seem to understand. She continued to turn the box over in her hands, muttering 'straw' to herself every now and then. Ichigo and Hiori exchanged glances as they watched the girl hopelessly continue searching for the straw, and Hiori wondered what kind of place didn't have straws- Now that she came to think of it, she didn't even know where Rukia was from, or where Shinigami came from, for that matter. She opened her mouth to ask, but was interrupted by a loud gasp.

"Ichigo, why are you up here alone with girls?" asked a voice, and Hiori turned around to frown up at the person who had just asked such an awkward question. A short boy with black hair stood in front of her, a puzzled expression on his face and a bento in his fist. "It's surprising to see you getting along with people you only just met." Ichigo and Hiori promptly scooted father away from each other, finally seeming to realize their dangerously close proximities, earning themselves a questioning look from the boy as he sat down next to Rukia.

"Hello, Kuchiki-san!" he said brightly, and Rukia abandoned her search for a moment to look up and meet his gaze.

"Ah... Kojima-kun?"

"BINGO!" he said happily before looking down the row of people at Hiori, who frowned ever so slightly. "Hello, I'm Kojima Mizuiro, fifteen." he said, and then he turned his attention back to Rukia, clearly not seeing that she was distracted by her search for a straw. "My hobbies include-"

"Womanizing." Ichigo stated flatly, taking a sip if his drink. Hiori snickered, sneering over at Mizuiro, who flushed.

"Ichigo! Stop it. Besides, I only like older women." he said, pouting and crossing his arms. "Girls my age are safe." Hiori arched her eyebrows, unsure of how a boy like this managed to hook up with older women.

"That's why I told her to watch out." Ichigo replied, and Hiori cast Rukia a confused look. She seemed caught of guard, and Hiori guessed that Shinigami must be older than they actually looked.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Ichigo said quickly, and luckily Mizuiro dropped the subject.

"Can I join you guys?" a voice asked, and Hiori flinched, not having realized that another person had snuck up on them.

"Ah, hey Kei-"

"How'd you get the new girl and the transfer student up here, Ichigo!" the boy yelled, dropping his lunch and rushing to Hiori's side. She instantly felt uncomfortable, slapping his hand away as he attempted to take her hand in his. "Hello, new beautiful student!" he said enthusiastically, and Hiori made a disgusted face.

"Ah... Hello?" she replied, and Ichigo just shook his head. Why he was friends with these people, he just couldn't explain.

"Huh? Where's Chad?" Ichigo shrugged, not giving the boy a second glance as he continued to sit unnecessarily close to Hiori.

"Haven't seen 'im," he replied. Keigo opened his mouth to ask another questioned, but he stopped as the shadows of three people suddenly loomed over them. Hiori stared up at the three thuggish boys, wondering if these were Ichigo's friends as well, and mentally noting that he hung around some very strange people.

"O-Ooshima," Keigo stuttered. "Didn't know you were off of your suspension," he said, and the boy with the weird afro hair smirked triumphantly.

"Hey guys, look at this." he said, pointing at Hiori. "Kurosaki's got himself another friend with strange hair." he continued, and Hiori's eyebrow twitched dangerously. She should have seen this one coming. "Hey, Kurosaki, with your droopy eyes and bleached hair- Stop copying me!" he yelled, pointing at Ichigo. He sighed heavily, a bored expression painting his face.

"Sorry if this bothers you, but it's my natural color," Hiori explained, giving the boys an icy glare.

"Yeah, this is mine too. I ain't copying ya', so do something about your own hair, Chicken Head." he retorted, and Hiori snorted into her sandwich, earning herself a slight smirk from Ichigo and a glare from the boy above her.

"Put a muzzle on that bitch of yours, Kurosaki," the boy yelled, reaching into his pocket. Hiori stood up swiftly, raising her fists.

"What's that, you little-"

"Hey, guys, let's not fight!" Keigo cried, but he backed away instantly as the boy pulled iron knuckles out of his pocket. Hiori's eyes widened, but she really couldn't back away now. But this hardly seemed fair to her.

"I don't care if you're a chick, I'm gonna kick your arse!" he yelled, pulling back his fist. Hiori wore a dumbfounded expression. Arse? Really? She felt like somebody should be making fun of that. She heard Ichigo stand up as Ooshima pulled his fist, growling as he snapped it forwards, and Hiori prepared to duck- Only to see the boy thrown easily into the air, crash landing several yards away on the rooftop. The rest of his cronies trembled, turning on their heels and running in the opposite direction.

"Chad!" Keigo called, sighing with relief. "Careful, you coulda' killed Ooshima!"

"He did save me, though..." Hiori muttered, peering over her shoulder as Ooshima scrambled upright, taking one last look at them before running off.

"Chad, you're injured?" Ichigo asked, walking up beside Hiori with his hands in his pockets. "What happened?" Chad paused, unwrapping his bread slowly before speaking.

"My head. Yesterday, a steel beam fell from above," he said, as though it were no big deal.

"STEAL BEAM?" the group yelled in unison, looks of surprise on all of their faces.

"And my hand and stuff... I went to buy bread, and I collided with a motorcycle."

"What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo yelled, frowning up at the tan boy. Hiori's eyes moved from Chad's face, slowly making their way down and finally settling on his left hand, which was holding a rather large bird cage. She felt her body freeze up, and she eyed the bird cautiously.

"The guy on the bike was seriously injured, so I took him to the hospital." Chad continued, and both Ichigo and Hiori stood, completely dumbfounded, in front of him, Hiori still eyeing the cockatiel apprehensively.

"Does he have an iron body, or something?" Hiori murmured, and Ichigo could do nothing but shrug.

"What's with the bird?" he asked, following Hiori's gaze.

"Hello!" it said, and Hiori jumped, nearly knocking Ichigo in the face with her elbow. "My name is Shibata Yuuichi- What are your names!" As Keigo and Mizuiro crowded around both the bird cage and Chad, Hiori felt her body freeze up. Although the bird spoke unusually well, it wasn't uncommon for birds like that to speak. So why was she getting so freaked out? Ichigo cast her a glance from the corner of his eyes, watching as her frown deepened the more she watched the bird. Despite Keigo's efforts, Chad was reluctant to divulge any information regarding how he had acquired the cockatiel, and Hiori wondered vaguely if it was some sort of strange bird off of the Black Market- Perhaps that's why it was making her feel so strange?


After her rather strange introduction to Ichigo's small group of friends, the rest of the day had passed rather quickly for Hiori. Tatsuki had left school before she had, and she was mentally cursing her for forgetting about her. Instead of walking with her, she had chosen to accompany Orihime in grocery shopping, insisting that she buy 'normal' people food, for once. Hiori couldn't blame her- She had seen what Orihime bought at the grocery store many a time, and she knew as well as anyone that Orihime had eccentric tastes when it came to food. If you could even call leeks, bean jam, gelatin and bananas 'eccentric'.

Hiori paused as she came to a four-way intersection. She sighed, tossing her school bag over her shoulder as she waited for the street to clear up so she could cross. Glancing to her left, she spied a familiar bird cage. Her eyes traveled up the tan arm that held it, finally coming to rest on the boy she had met earlier that very afternoon. That strange feeling that she had now begun to associate with the cockatiel came over her once again, and Chad looked down, finally noticing the familiar face staring up at him.

"Ah... Hitsugaya-san," he said slowly, his deep voice rumbling deep within his chest. When she had met him, Hiori had wondered if this boy really was the same age as Ichigo- Not only was he maybe two feet taller than he was, not to mention much more built, but his voice was much deeper.

"You can call me Hiori, Yasutora-san," she replied, stepping out into the crosswalk as the electronic sign indicated it was alright to walk. He nodded, following her and stepping out into the street.

"Sado," he murmured, pointing to himself. Hiori raised an eyebrow.

"I thought your name-" she stopped speaking, a familiar roar piercing her ears, and she whipped her head around. Her eyes fell on the large monster, not three yards away, its enormous masked face staring almost hungrily at the tiny cockatiel, who began to screech and flap its wings incessantly. Hiori froze up, unsure of what to do. There was no Ichigo, and there was no Rukia, and she still had no idea what she had done to stop Orihime's brother from attacking her the night before. As she continued to stare, she failed to notice the car speeding in their direction.

The Hollow lashed its tail, sending the car swerving out of its lane and causing several other cars to crash into each other. Hiori felt something make contact with her side, pushing her out of the way of an oncoming vehicle. The bird cage clattered to the street, and the bird continued to screech.

"Mister! Run, Mister!" it cried, and Hiori's eyes widened. Could the bird see this creature. She gasped, pushing herself up. The Hollow dug its claw into Chad's back, and Hiori gasped, tugging on Chad's arms as hard as she could in an attempt to get him up.

"Chad! CHAD!" she screamed, urging him to stand as the Hollow continued to dig its nails into his flesh. "Fuck off!" she bellowed, and the Hollow roared as it was suddenly thrown back, away from where Chad and Hiori stood. Her eyes widened, and she stared down at her palm. What had she just done? She shook her head quickly, dropping Chad as paramedics arrived. Hiori flinched, turning on her heel and jogging away, realizing moments later that her shoulder was bleeding from landing on the blacktop so roughly.

Ever since the appearance of Kurosaki Ichigo, nothing seemed to have gone right in her life. Perhaps 'right' was the incorrect word, but it certainly wasn't going according to plan. Never once before her meeting Ichigo had she run into Hollows, or conversed with Shinigami, or used strange powers that she didn't know the names of. Her breath was coming out ragged as she ran, clutching her shoulder, finally reaching her house. She stopped just outside of the lawn, staring up at the place that she had called home for a good two years. Everything was changing so fast, and she had no idea what to make of that. Her home had become the only somewhat stable thing in her life.

Walking up the path, she took out her house keys. Hiori unlocked the door, brushing her hair out of her eyes and rolling up the sleeve of her shirt on her wounded arm. She didn't need to get it any more stained with blood than it already was. She sighed heavily, pressing her back against the door and standing still for several seconds. Finally getting her thoughts together, she took a few steps, making it to the stairs and walking swiftly to her room. She pulled open the door to her bedroom, throwing her school bag unceremoniously on her desk before loosening her tie and pulling it off over her head, pausing or a moment as it became tangled with her head. She turned around, preparing to sit on her bed, but stopped in her tracks.

"WHY THE HELL IS THERE A NAKED WOMAN ON MY BED!"