A/N-CHA! Let's get things going! One of the most well-planned chapters yet! Sit tight! This might be a long one! Oh, and I have a request. From now on, please try not to give any specific info in reviews, I don't want to have any spoilers for people who read reviews first.

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Nothing of particular importance happened the next day. For the entire day Hitsugaya and Ayumu couldn't stop thinking about what would happen the day after. Before they knew it, the day was over and their curiosity was about to be satisfied.

Hitsugaya showed up at Ayumu's house around noon, a change of clothes in his bag. He had been told to bring something traditional to change into before the ceremony. He had considered wearing his shinigami robe (which he still had left over from when he first got into his gegai and was wearing a copy of them before changing into civilian clothes) just for kicks, but decided against it. Eventually he had ended up with an outfit that looked much like his shinigami robes, but with no jacket, a white shirt, and pants that were a wan green (much like the inside of his captain's jacket). When he got there people were already preparing, although they informed him that they wouldn't be leaving until about 7:00pm. Since most of the preparing was being done by Ayumu's parents Hitsugaya and Ayumu just ended up talking. Finally the question came up that Hitsugaya had been expecting since the topic was first brought up.

"Um, Hitsugaya… if you don't mind my asking, how did you die?" Expecting it didn't make him any more prepared to answer.

"I can't remember."

"You can't remember? It seems like a pretty big thing to slip your mind," she said, slightly annoyed that he seemed to be keeping something from her.

"No. I can't remember." Upon hearing his tone she knew that he was telling the truth, good actor or no. She dropped the subject.

They had an early dinner around 5:00 and got changed around 6:00. Ayumu and Hitsugaya took turns changing in her room while the other waited outside. Ayumu changed first. When she came out of her room to let Hitsugaya change she was wearing a purple kimono decorated with a simple white flower pattern. As she passed Hitsugaya watched her. She seemed to move past him in slow motion. For a few seconds after they switched rooms Hitsugaya stood with the door open, staring at her as though trying to remember something.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, it's nothing. I just feel like I've seen you in that dress before, but I know I haven't." Ayumu just shrugged as Hitsugaya shut the door to change. As soon as he came out Ayumu got a surprised look on her face.

"Wow. And you thought you had déjà vu," she said, rubbing her head.

"It's still weird."

"Ayumu!" Ayumu's mother called for her from another room. Both of them walked into the living room to find Ayumu's mother and father (Her grandmother had gone to prepare the site early that morning) waiting for them in the clothes that they would be wearing that night.

"We have a present for you," her father said, taking out something that appeared to be a semi-circle wrapped in a thin layer of lavender cloth and handed it to Ayumu. She slowly pulled the cloth away. It was a comb for her hair, adorned with a white flower and a pair of decorations that were meant to look like very oddly placed hair sticks. Hitsugaya couldn't say why someone would want to look like they had hair sticks coming out of the side of their head, but assumed it was a style. Strangely enough, he had seen several with a similar style in soul society but none so far in the living world. Ayumu seemed genuinely happy with the gift, but also slightly puzzled.

"Here, wear it like this," Ayumu's mother said, taking the comb from her hand and scooping up some of Ayumu's hair with it, tucking it neatly just above her ear. "Oh, that's pretty. Look how well it goes with your dress!" For a moment Ayumu looked distressed. She seemed about to say something, but she changed her mind and her face softened.

"Thank you."

"I got this for you a long time ago," Ayumu's mother continued. "I always meant for you to wear it on this occasion, but this was the first chance I got to give it to you. It's a replica of one belonging to the girls," she said, referring to the two girls who had died. No wonder they were in soul society but not the living world, the style was over 500 years old! With Ayumu's appearance altered the feeling of déjà vu Hitsugaya had been experiencing was ebbing away, but something separate seemed familiar about the comb its self… Ayumu on the other hand was sure that even before it had happened she could've quoted her mothers exact words when giving her the comb from memory. And she was sure that there was something bad associated with it, although receiving the comb and hearing her mother speak had given her nothing but joy…

The car ride was about an hour and a half long. During the drive Hitsugaya and Ayumu mostly looked out the window and separately contemplated their strange feelings of familiarity. As they neared their destination Ayumu's father told them that by tradition they had never sold this property even though no one was living on it. When they arrived Ayumu's grandmother was waiting for them. The instant that they stepped out of the car they understood what she had been talking about. A strange spirit force seemed to coat the entire area, from the abandoned house that they were parked in front of far into the woods that were also owned by the Masami family. Strangely it didn't seem to be coming from a person, but from the place it's self. Hitsugaya vaguely recognized some of it to be compiled of leftover spirit force from the house's occupants that had ebbed away over time to the point where it was almost unrecognizable. But there was something else too, not just a spirit force. Spirit enriched land. That was definitely it. It was a different and rare (maybe even unheard of) type, but that was definitely it and it was definitely strong enough to be felt as a spirit force. Ayumu walked up toward the house. She turned to partially face her grandmother and nodded. Ayumu's grandmother glanced at Hitsugaya and he repeated the gesture. She smiled slightly, glad to finally have confirmed what she had felt for her whole life.

They began walking into the woods surrounding the house. Somehow Hitsugaya felt that they were approaching the center of the spirit enriched land, which usually doesn't exist. He assessed the situation. It seems like there was an explosion of spirit force and the shockwave's effects on the land is what we've been feeling. They entered a clearing a small ways from the house. The second they set foot in it they realized that this was the center of what they had been feeling, the site of the explosion. There seemed to be something ominous about the clearing. Something terrible had happened here. This must be the spot where they died. Is that what all this is about? Two girls die and it has this effect on the land? Obviously they had a lot of spirit force. But still, even if the entire Kurosaki family died it wouldn't be like this! The spot just above his heart had a familiar tickle. Figures. The sun is starting to set anyway, and with all this weird spirit force it only makes sense that I'd feel it a little early. Up above in the space left by the clearing the trees were painted orange and pink. Golden-red light filtered its way through the forest. Standing near a tree in the shadow of its branches, the spirit of a young girl of perhaps six stared at them silently from across the clearing. She wore a kimono a lot like Ayumu's, but instead of white flowers hers was decorated with golden falling leaves. Her hair was wavy and came down to her shoulders where it was cut strait across the bottom. Her eyes were large and round, and appeared to be a dull blue, but if the light hit them just right they seemed purple. Her expression was serious, almost wistful. Frankly, Hitsugaya was instinctively a bit scared of her, and it looked like Ayumu felt the same way. He ignored that feeling, but could not ignore the fact that like so many other things that night she seemed familiar.

"Seems that our little friend is here, as always," Ayumu's grandmother said. Obviously the clearing had been their destination, as they had not moved for some time.

"What do you mean, 'our little friend?'" Ayumu asked.

"That girl always shows up about an hour before the ceremony. She's been coming here for as long as I can remember," her grandmother replied.

"Well, maybe this'll be her last one," Ayumu said. To Hitsugaya that was as good as 'let's do the soul burial after this'. Reassured by how the conversation was going Hitsugaya was not afraid to speak his mind.

"She looks like you guys. Do you think she's related?" Hitsugaya looked over at Ayumu to see if she agreed. She had one of her hands clenched loosely into a fist and resting on her midriff. She shrugged at him.

"Oh? I never thought of that. Really I'm impressed that you can even see her, she's just a wavy outline to me." But if she can see ghosts that doesn't make sense. Hitsugaya thought. Shinigami and hollows are different, but if you can see any ghosts you can see them all! She has a lot of spirit force, but that shouldn't change things…

"The sun is setting. It's time for our ritual to begin," Ayumu's grandmother said. They arranged themselves so that Ayumu's grandmother was in front, her parents side by side behind her, and Hitsugaya and Ayumu side by side behind them. They stood with their eyes closed and their hands together as though they were praying. "Oh ancestors…" Ayumu's grandmother began, and proceeded to make a long speech from memory as she had so many times before. The spot on Hitsugaya's chest began to twinge. This concerned him slightly, because it didn't usually do that. He supposed that it was being amplified from being in a place like this. Why did he accept this invitation again? Hitsugaya poked it with his thumb so as to not move from his position. Ayumu moved her hands down slightly and pressed her wrist right under her ribcage as though scratching an itch. "We will now wait in silence until the sun sets to show our respect to those who died here on that night," Ayumu's grandmother finished her speech. Damnit. The spot on his chest was becoming painful now. Ayumu repeated the motion she had made moments ago, digging her wrist in a little harder this time. There were a few moments there all that could be heard was the calm breath of those present. The young girl's spirit looked on at them with something that seemed almost like longing. And yet in this seemingly peaceful scene something was wrong. There was some tension mounting. Ayumu's face seemed pained now. Even her parents could feel it, the sense that something was wrong, something terrible was about to happen, some evil energy was building up— and then things began to happen very fast.

A bloodcurdling scream split the air as the last slivers of sunlight crept their way out of the forest and seemed to echo across the landscape. In the confusion it was hard to tell who had screamed. But after a moment they located that it was Ayumu who was screaming. Her hand clutched a spot in the middle of her torso, pulling the fabric of her kimono and creating wrinkles that ran all the way up to her shoulders. She fell to her knees, still screaming, and collapsed to the ground. Her scream paused only for her to take a breath. Somehow Hitsugaya knew that the little girl's spirit who was staring (without any change in expression) was involved in this.

"Hey what the hell did you—" he screamed furiously at her. The girl looked up at him. Then, as though it had only been a trick of the light, she began to change. As the shadows lengthened, the severed chain of fate disappeared, the kimono was replaced by a tight shirt and pants that were loose but drew in at the bottom of the same color and pattern as the kimono, and now she turned on one foot and her image began to fade… "Hey! Wait!" at this point the spot in Hitsugaya's chest was getting quite painful now and his breath was coming in short bursts. He turned to Ayumu who was now on the ground surrounded by her family. Painfully he remembered seeing her rest her hand on her midriff earlier, he should've noticed, he should've known— suddenly his eyes opened wide and then shut tight. He gasped for breath. It was as though he had been lying on his back and someone had poured scalding acid down on the spot just above his heart, it burned its way down in a straight hole through him, not meeting any resistance, destroying everything in it's path- he had never known pain like this and yet again something told him that he had, it was pulling him back, burning away the fog that had hindered him for so long- fire shot through him, his vision went red and then black, Hitsugaya collapsed and two screams echoed into the night…