Around an hour later, they had dropped by Orihime's place for her to get changed, then found themselves outside one of Karakura's downtown bars. Rukia and Ray hadn't even had to say anything to convince her to play along with their plans. Orihime had done her part happily and dressed as though she was going out for a night on the town: heels, short skirt, cute purse, and make up. And Ichigo was relatively sure he hated every bit of it.

To begin with, she was the only one in her physical body. The other three were still in spirit form and therefore invisible to the rest of the crowd. A very pretty single girl with Orihime's… assets, out visiting clubs and bars by herself, in the bad part of town, had already attracted too much unwanted attention for Ichigo's tastes. But after the third sleazy guy had excused himself because of a sudden pain in his shins (where Ichigo had kicked him, of course), he decided to speak up.

"Inoue, you're drawing too much attention," he grumbled. Orihime simply looked confused.

"But I thought we wanted that?" she asked innocently. "He'll notice us this way, right?" Ray shook her head.

"No," she said softly. "He wouldn't want to draw that much attention. You need to find an alley or a dark place where we can hide to wait." Orihime seemed to understand and clutched the strap to her purse in determination.

"Uhn!" she said with a big smile. "Just leave it to me!"

As they passed under a streetlight, leaving the crowds behind, they approached a dark shipping yard. The four of them continued chatting.

"So he doesn't like bright places," Orihime thought out loud. "Didn't he have some scars? I think I remember that he was supposed to have looked pretty bad… Maybe he didn't want people looking at him?" Ichigo and Rukia exchanged a look; leave it to Orihime to serve some absolutely brutal insults without even realizing it.

"Err, Inoue-san," Rukia said with an awkward smile. "He probably had worse problems than being ugly."

"He wasn't ugly," Ray corrected them firmly. "Not at all. He did have scars, but that didn't make him ugly. But he didn't like most people in general, especially happy people." Ichigo cast a glance over to Ray. She normally seemed to be quiet and withdrawn, but something about her tone struck him as odd, almost… nostalgic? Ichigo shook his head. He didn't really understand emotional things like that very well, but he also had never been killed by a serial killer. He let it go.

By this point, they had reached the darkened yard, full of shipping trailers and sleeping trucks. Either side of the fenced-off yard had deep, black alleys trailing far out of sight. It would've been perfect for their purposes and the three women seemed to have realized it as well.

"So I just walk through here…?" Orihime asked, poking her head into the alleyway on the far side of the yard.

"Yes," Ray replied. "Act happy. We'll hide back here." And with that, she tugged both Ichigo and Rukia's sleeves and pulled them along to the darkened pallet of boards stacked at the corner of the yard. As she tucked them into their hiding spots, Ichigo couldn't help but be impressed at just how clever Ray was with finding places to hide. Maybe she'd just run into a spot of bad luck when Foster killed her.

"You're pretty good at this," he whispered. The morbid curiosity was getting on his nerves by this point, so he figured he might as well comment on it. "Kinda surprised Foster managed to kill you."

"He's good at what he does," Ray remarked simply. Well, if she didn't want to talk about it, Ichigo wouldn't press her. Besides, they weren't there to chit-chat. Although as the silence settled on them, he could hear Orihime singing cheerily from the alley.

"Do, a do, a do-rae-mon!" she chirped, easily imitating a drunk. "Ray, a ghost named Rei!" If Ichigo didn't know her, he would have thought she was three sheets to the wind. But no – that was just Orihime. "Mi, a look, a looky-look~"

"Is she always like that?" Ray asked, her expression betraying nothing. Both Ichigo and Rukia shrugged in unison.

"For as long as I've known her," Ichigo replied. Rukia nodded.

"You get used to it," Rukia affirmed. Ray looked doubtful.

Before the conversation could continue, though, a blast of infernal heat washed over the area. The intense and suffocating aura of a hollow had appeared. An overwhelming smell, like that of a decrepit old house burning, reached Ichigo's nose from the next alley over. He nearly retched. He'd fought plenty of hollows, but none reeked quite like this one.

"He's here," Ray whispered. Her voice trembled ever so slightly and Ichigo turned to look at her. Her expression hadn't changed at all; in fact, she was as calm and focused as ever. But they could hear him clearly from the alley – a shrieking, piercing laughter that nearly made Ichigo's ears ring.

"Hiiiiiyaaaaaa hahahaha!"

He very nearly sprung from his hiding place, but Rukia stopped him with a hand to the shoulder. She shook her head when he looked at her.

"Wait until Inoue-san brings him closer," she whispered. Ichigo knew Orihime could handle any of the hollows that popped into Karakura-cho. She'd been doing it since she was fifteen. He still didn't like it.

"I'll give ya 'til the count of three to run! Hope you can move in those heels, lady! Onnnnnne~!"

"He won't chase her until the count of three," Ray informed them. "But he's very fast."

"Twoooooo~"

"I'm faster," Ichigo growled. Ray shook her head.

"But is she?"

At that moment, Orihime ran past their pallet, heels in her hands. She was nowhere near as fast as Ichigo, but she had her shields if things went south.

"Threeeeee~! Ready or not, here I come~!"

The unhinged laughter was louder than before, moving closer at such a fast rate that even Ichigo was surprised. There was another sound, something that was very close to the noise of a heavy sword scraping across the wet concrete of the alleyway. As he entered the yard, Ichigo could hear his incredibly heavy footsteps; if the yard wasn't already packed earth, he was sure it would've cracked. Even as the contents of the pallets shook, the creature came into view.

He was huge, one of the largest hollows Ichigo had ever seen outside of the Menos Grande. Covered in thick, shaggy, black hair, and loose, filthy bandages, Ichigo couldn't help but be reminded of a mangy wolfman dressed up like a mummy. If that was all, he would have been frightening enough. But this hollow was so hot that Ichigo could feel the heat pouring off of him as though he was on fire. Whatever part of him was burning wasn't visible, but the smoke and steam wafting off of him was. And paradoxically, he still also smelled like wet dirt.

As Ichigo caught sight of his hands, he realized what was being drug along the ground: it was his left hand. The claws of his right hand were all wicked and long, each nearly the length of his forearm. But the left hand's fingers were fused together, forming what looked like a large scythe. He raised it above his head, wheezing with laughter at Orihime, who had turned further down the path to face him.

"Are ya brave or just stupid, lady?" he asked. "At least have the good sense to be afraid!" Ichigo could nearly see her face in his mind; he was sure she had that determined look, where her brows pinched and her bottom lip stiffened. But in another moment, Foster had passed them, his back clearly visible.

"Now," Rukia whispered, springing from their hiding place with Ichigo following close behind.

He'd pulled Zangetsu from his back before Rukia could clear her sheath – and it was for the better. The large cleaver blocked that nasty scythe with a ringing 'CLANG', connecting just in time to keep Ichigo's head from being split open like a melon. As he stared down the smoldering hollow, he could see burning red eyes behind the sneering mask; even with the layer of bone, he could tell the creature was angry at being denied his prey.

"Soul Reapers are puttin' out bait now?" he asked, clearly amused. "Kinda sleazy. What if I killed yer happy little human friend, huh?" It was pretty low, in Ichigo's opinion. But he'd been overruled.

"Not my idea," he retorted. "But maybe you shouldn't have been so easy to bait!" He managed to push the hollow back a few paces with his sword, just in time for Rukia to bring hers down from behind. She only managed to shave off a few shanks of shaggy black hair, as he dodged to the right just in the nick of time. Ray was right – he was freakishly fast, as well as strong.

"Hiyahaha!" the hollow chortled. "Two on one? I've had worse odds!" Ichigo felt his hackles rise, but Rukia quickly piped up.

"Soul Reapers don't have to fight fair, Foster," she said, running a hand along her blade. "Now – Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" The sword turned white, just as if a sudden frost had hit it, and a white ribbon trailed from the hilt. The hollow seemed a bit surprised for a moment before chortling.

"You know my name, huh?" he laughed. He seemed not to notice the pool of white light forming at his feet. The airy sound of chimes floated on the wind as Rukia stared him down.

"Gardner-san told us everything about you," she replied. The hollow went completely still for a moment before laying his ears back against his head and raising his snout to the air. Upon finding the scent he was looking for, he charged Rukia, nearly breaking her concentration.

"RAY?! WHERE'S RAY?!"

"Some no Mae! Tsukishiro!"

The hollow froze in mid-air, stuck in the pillar of sub-zero white light Rukia's zanpakuto had formed. His scythe was stretched towards her, inches from her face, but Rukia didn't flinch. Instead, she stared him down defiantly. Ichigo could see he was still struggling to move, but the shikai had him stuck tight.

"You'll never kill again, Foster," she said confidently. "Ichigo, you do the honors." But before Ichigo could lift his sword, he heard a voice coming from the direction that Orihime had ran.

"Gardner-san, Gardner-san, why does that name sound so familiar?" That was the voice of an overly-forgetful person who was about to deliver some terrible news. Suddenly, Ichigo had the overwhelming instinct to check their earlier hiding spot.

"Inoue?" he said tersely, seeing that Ray was now nowhere to be found. "If you've got some critical info, now would be a good time to share it…!" As he looked down the row and saw the look of horror on Orihime's face, his stomach dropped.

"I just remembered!" the brunette yelled, causing both Soul Reapers to look her way. "Rachel Gardner! She was Isaac Foster's accomplice!"

"Bind, Kinhari. Shiroi ito."

White pinpricks appeared all along Ichigo's arms, accompanied by the sharp sting of a needle. Then, they were snapped together; a shimmering web of white thread had sewn his limbs still. Looking at his companions, he could see that Rukia was in a similar state; her Tsukishiro flickered and faded, dropping Foster unceremoniously to the ground along with her zanpakuto. Orihime seemed unaffected. After thinking for a moment, he could only come to two conclusions: either Ray thought she wasn't a threat, or she intended to let Foster chase her down.

"Inoue, run!"

For once, she did as she was told and ducked behind one of the construction vehicles. Luckily, the hollow still seemed too dazed to run after her. Instead, Ichigo watched in frustration as the little Fourth Division shinigami stepped from her hiding place behind a second, more distant set of pallets, glowing sewing needle in hand. She acknowledged Ichigo with a cold glance and for the first time all of his odd feelings about her made sense; she gave him the creeps because she was a hardened criminal. At the very least, she had aided and abetted a serial killer. Of course she'd be creepy.

"Ray…"

The hollow scrambled to his haunches and then launched himself at the blonde. Knowing hollows, Ichigo half expected to watch the petite shinigami get disemboweled; instead, he gathered the girl to his chest in a tight hug.

"Zack," she said softly into his black fur. "You always kill everyone but me." Ichigo had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but had the rather unsettling thought that this might be what passed for a romantic reunion between these two. To further that impression, Foster scooped the girl up and cradled her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Ray," he said. It was probably the most earnest Ichigo had ever heard a hollow sound. "But I took out the bastards that killed you! Ray, you should've seen the look on the pigs' faces when I showed up at their precinct!" For the first time since Ichigo had met her, the blonde smiled. It made him feel like ants were crawling over his skin. Then she leaned in and gave the hollow a small kiss, right on the side of his mask and Ichigo thought he would be sick instead.

"Hey," he interjected. "I hate to break up this touching reunion, but you need to get away from him. Whatever he used to be, he's not the man you remember, Gardner." The gaze Ray shot him just then would've made a lesser man piss his pants, but Ichigo stood firm.

"Ichigo is right," Rukia said sternly. "The most delicious soul a hollow can eat is that of a loved one." The look she cast them just then was inscrutable.

"Good."

"Good?!"

Both Ichigo and Rukia sputtered in unison. The blonde rested against the monster's chest, leaning into him as he supported her weight. She closed her eyes, just as though she was going to sleep on a pile of pillows.

"Ray didn't tell you this, so I will," he said triumphantly. "But we agreed a long time ago - I'm the only one allowed to kill her!" Ray nodded and then addressed the group again.

"Zack didn't actually get to kill me," she explained, stroking the side of his mask. "A convenience store clerk recognized him and called the cops - they shot me on accident. So it's only right if he gets to eat me after all." It took Ichigo a few moments to process what he'd just heard. Then the gravity of what she'd said settled on him.

"That's literally insane!" he yelled.

"Gardner-san, you can't be serious," Rukia picked up his train of thought. "If he eats you, your soul will cease to exist! You get it, right!? You won't be reborn, in Soul Society or anywhere else!" Ray simply closed her eyes again and snuggled in closer to the stinking monster's neck.

"I don't care," she replied simply.

"You guys are the ones that don't get it!" he screamed, nearly laughing again. "Ray's mine! When I eat her, she'll become part of me! We'll never be apart again! You don't get it!" Then he did what Ichigo had been dreading seeing him do the entire time: he bent his head over Ray and seized her neck between the bone jaws of his hollow mask. As he pulled away, taking a chunk of her trapezius muscle with him, Ray actually screamed. Ichigo couldn't help but be a bit surprised; he nearly expected her to take it happily.

"Z-Zack!" she cried. "No, not… not now! I wanted to… to stay with you longer…!" This set him off, causing him to pick the girl up with his right hand and hold her out to look at. He shook her hard; Ichigo thought she might pass out from it, but somehow she seemed to still be alert. Even as he shook her by the collar, she wrapped her tiny hands around his wrist, clearly trying to soothe him.

"You promised, Ray!" he shrieked her betrayal. "Are you breaking our oath?! Liar! You know how much I hate liars!" He continued on like that, raving about their "oath", whatever it was, and shaking the little shinigami fiercely. But as he watched, Ichigo realized that he could move his hands again. Looking down, he half expected Ray's zanpakuto to have failed; instead, it was Orihime's black-clad fairy, Tsubaki, snapping the white threads binding his arms together. The little spiky-haired elf looked up from behind his scarf and glared at Ichigo.

"Hold still, stupid," the fairy snapped. "I'll have you out in a second." True to his word, the attack fairy broke the last thread and Ichigo's arms came apart. He rubbed them gingerly, trying to dispel the lingering pinpricks from having been sewn together. As soon as the feeling came back to his arms, he reached down to pick up his zanpakuto. Ichigo turned his head in time to see Rukia's threads being snapped loose as well. But just as he looked over towards Foster, he saw that Ray was missing. A quick glance back the way they'd came showed him where she was; Orihime had snatched the blonde away from the hollow.

Even without her incantation, Orihime almost immediately had Ray inside of her glowing healing shield. The blonde was clearly confused, watching as her wounds closed and the blood disappeared.

"I hope you don't mind, Gardner-san," Orihime said solemnly. "But we can't have you helping him anymore." In her confusion, Ray laid her hand on the yellow, glowing dome, only to realize that it repelled her; she was trapped inside.

"No, you have to let me out," she pleaded. "They'll send him to Hell!" While Ichigo squared his shoulders to face off against the hollow, he was already lunging in Orihime's direction.

"You little bitch!" he roared. "Give her back! Ray! Get back here!" He lunged towards Orihime's back, but before his scythe could make contact, a shining yellow triangle sprung to life between them. Orihime could cast her shields almost instinctively now.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "But could you hold off for a moment while I talk to your accomplice?"

"You happy little shit! I'll kill you first!" The scythe made a terrible noise as it banged into Orihime's Santen Kesshun over and over, but she turned to face Ray with a smile. Ichigo sighed and swung Zangetsu towards the hollow; at least it distracted him from pointlessly hammering at her shield.

"He seems nice," Orihime commented, seemingly without a hint of irony. Rukia joined the fight to help back Ichigo up; this left Orihime on her own to babysit Ray.

"He isn't… normally like this," Ray admitted sheepishly. "He's never… been possessive or… really even hurt me before. At least not on purpose. Not even when I pointed a gun at him." Orihime put a finger to her lip and thought for a second.

"So when he says that only he is allowed to kill you," she reasoned, "what he actually means is that he was keeping anyone else from hurting you. You know, when people become hollows, their desires get twisted like that." Orihime, of course, spoke from deep personal experience – both with her brother and with Ichigo himself. But Ray didn't know that; instead, she pushed herself up from the dirt and came to a sitting position. She stared out at Orihime, giving her a mournful look.

"You heard about us on tv, right?" she said quietly. "Once we ran away together, he didn't kill as much, but he still took care of me. I don't care what happens to me, I just want Zack to be okay. I don't want him to be dragged to Hell."

"But do you want him to have to live on without you?" she asked pointedly. "Once he eats you, he'll really regret it. And he'll be all alone. I can't guarantee he won't go to Hell. He might go on to Soul Society when they cleanse him. But if he eats you now, there's no chance of him ever being happy about it." Ray stared out at Orihime, seeming to absorb her words. Before she could answer, though, the hollow's shriek broke their conversation off.

Rukia had her feet firmly planted on his back, sword impaling him from behind. He was pinned to the ground by Sode no Shirayuki, but still thrashing despite everything. Ichigo, on the other hand, stood before him, feet spread apart, braced to deliver the killing blow. As Orihime watched, she could feel Ray trying to escape her shield; even though the monster was defeated, he was still calling for Ray. Then, in one clean swipe, Ichigo slashed straight through his mask, snapping the bone in two.

"Zack! Zack!"

Seeing as there was nothing else to be done, Orihime released her shield. He would fade soon and there was no sense in keeping Ray away from him now. And without fail, as soon as the shield was dropped, the blonde flash-stepped over to her previous position with her arms around the hollow's neck. Taking a closer look, a human face was visible now, covered in ragged bandages with mottled scars underneath, nearly hidden by shaggy black hair. The golden-brown eyes that landed on Ray were mismatched and full of sorrow.

"Dammit," he hissed, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I broke my promise again, didn't I? Hey, Ray – at least lemme see a smile this time." Her face was a tear-stained mess, but it was obvious she was at least trying to oblige him. It clearly didn't work, though; her normally blank expression attempting a caricature of a smile was just as unnatural as she always was. But her earnestness, at least, showed genuine emotion.

"You still suck."

So she gave up and instead buried her face into his neck again, sobbing uncontrollably. For his part, Foster raised his right hand in an attempt to console his partner-in-crime, smoothing her hair over her back.

"Good girl."

And then he faded away, disintegrating into black flecks of spirit particles and floating away on the wind. No gates to Hell opened, no demons sprang up around them to snatch Foster's soul. All was quiet except for the blonde's sobs. Ray's arms slipped closed around nothing.

A year passed.

One particularly brisk Sunday morning in April, Ichigo was awakened in his new apartment from the feeling of having a small Soul Reaper hop onto his legs. Having graduated from university (thankfully without scoring too badly on that one particular mid-term), he was now a functional adult, with a job and a place of his own. Of course, that didn't stop Rukia from barging in uninvited.

"Dammit, Rukia," he groaned, sitting up to rub his eyes clear of sleep. "You're gonna get an eyefull one of these days! Develop some personal boundaries! Damn!" Fortunately, he was in boxers and a tank top, so he didn't have to worry about being indecent this time. But considering the fact that he had a wife now, the last thing he wanted was Rukia barging in on anything more personal than a handshake.

"You should already be up by now anyway," she replied happily, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Ino- Orihime-san already is." This information was both unsurprising, since she wasn't asleep beside him anymore, and also did nothing to make him feel better about being woken up early on a Sunday. Ichigo glared, but didn't do anything worse.

"She does housework this time of the week," he weakly defended himself. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to stay in Soul Society now?" And at that, Rukia was on the defensive. She shielded her rounded belly with one hand and gave Ichigo a petulant scowl.

"I'm not that far along," she protested. "Besides, I'm pregnant, not sick! I can still go through the senkaimon if I want!"

"You're almost ready to pop," Ichigo deadpanned. Any extra weight on someone as small as Rukia was bound to look odd, but she currently had the gait and girth of a particularly well-fed penguin. She clearly didn't appreciate Ichigo's observational skills, though.

"I'm only seven months," she fussed, sticking her tongue out. "Besides, I had something I wanted to show you." And with that, the conversation shifted as Rukia pulled a small photo from inside her shihakushou. Ichigo slumped forward, elbows resting against his knees, and stretched a hand out to take it.

"Remember that one hollow from last year?" Rukia said expectantly. Ichigo gave her an incredulous look.

"There were many hollows last year, Rukia," he drawled. "You're gonna have to be more specific." She was unfazed by his sarcasm.

"The serial killer," she replied, pointing to the photo. "Foster. The one with the blonde Soul Reaper. Gardner-san." The image of the creepy blonde girl flashed through Ichigo's mind. Yes, he remembered them; how could he forget those cold, dead eyes? Then he looked down at his hand. There she was in the photograph, staring back up at him.

Except she wasn't alone.

The girl in the photo was definitely the same one Ichigo had met last year, still in her shihakushou, medic bag and all. But now she had a tall, thin man by her side. He wore the ratty kimono customary of Rukongai, and had even managed to find a brown hood from somewhere to cover most of his face. But underneath it, Ichigo could still see shaggy black hair and even some bandages. He'd even found a giant scythe somewhere and had it swung across his shoulders.

"I'll be damned," he whistled. Rukia bounced on the edge of the bed with excitement.

"Captain Isane had her on light duty for a while after the incident," Rukia explained. "I didn't turn her in, but the Captain was concerned for her mental health. But after about six months, she disappeared. We just got that back from one of the higher districts." Ichigo looked up from the photo to see Rukia grinning mischievously.

"So she ran out to go look for him?" he asked. To his surprise, Rukia shook her head.

"From all accounts, it looks like he came for her," she said, a note of triumph in her voice. Ichigo sputtered.

"Rukia, you're a Vice Captain now!" Ichigo squawked. "Aren't you supposed to keep intruders out?!" Ichigo couldn't help but be a bit indignant at the amount of resistance he'd encountered when he stormed the Seireitei to keep Rukia from being executed. Then again, the circumstances were certainly different, as Rukia's delighted demeanor suggested.

"Captain Isane only realized Gardner-san was gone the next day," she said with a shrug. "The window of her room was damaged from the outside, so it was pretty obvious what had happened. They looked for her, but by then the trail had gone cold." Ichigo looked back down at the picture again. Even though he remembered the cold stare of the blonde Soul Reaper, there was a faint smile on her face in the photo.

"Pretty obvious she doesn't want to be found now."

The sun was starting to set in District 67, slanting golden rays across the rickety shacks set in uneven rows. The days were slightly longer at this point in the year, but most of the souls this far into Rukongai couldn't have cared less. These souls eked out their 'livings' mostly around a half-dry well, frequently stealing what little belongings they had back and forth between each other. Largely abandoned by the Seireitei, the only disturbances here were caused by the residents and the occasional hollow.

Even in this kind of blighted landscape, one shack stood out among the rest. It wasn't in any better shape than the others; the roof leaked and the windows had no glass. It was cold in winter and hot in summer. Grass grew through the floorboards and there was barely any furniture. But the flower beds outside bloomed with phlox and hyacinth and sprouts of tomatoes and peppers were already started in another box closer to the door. And since none of the other spirits in the area had any spiritual energy, they wouldn't bother to steal the crops as they matured.

Inside, the house's inhabitant sat curled in a wooden chair, humming as she sewed. Strands of blonde hair fell across her face as she finished mending the tattered sleeve of a well-worn kimono and set it aside. Digging through her sewing box, she found the project she was nearly done with: a pair of stuffed dolls. With a tender look, she picked up the last few stitches she needed to finish up the small blonde doll's outfit. Her match, a black-haired boy doll in a brown jacket, had been finished months ago.

Before she could get very many stitches in, though, the sound of heavy boots resounded throughout the small shack. Looking up from her sewing, she saw the man who had just entered. His tattered yukata came to rest just above his thighs; he hadn't even bothered to tie it closed. Instead, he wore it like a jacket over a rough brown shirt with a hood, with stained pants covering his lower body – he always said he felt naked without them. Tall and wiry, the bandaged man gave her a crooked smile from underneath his shaggy black hair.

"Oi, Ray! I'm home!"

Ray gave him a rare, warm smile, setting the pair of dolls in her lap. She had just finished sewing them together at the hands.

"Welcome home, Zack."