(Screw it, I'm continuing both this bink and the other one, who's gonna stop me? If I get any characters, world-thingies or other parts completely wrong, it's because A, I haven't read Bleach in five years and all this is based on other fanfics, and two, I'm stupid, what do you expect?)

"Don't ask him stuff like that! What if he awakens to his apatites or something!?" Ichigo shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his somewhat-mentor. Rukia did not humour him, casting him only a sidelong glance to visualise her thoughts on the matter.

"I hardly think Luffy here would do something like that, would he?" Rukia said, glancing at Luffy purposely. Luffy didn't much know how to respond that, so he just stared blankly at her. "You wouldn't, right? You said so yourself?"

"Yeah, no! Nuh-uh!" Luffy affirmed/declined", shaking and nodding his head at the same time. Ichigo wasn't much convinced. This was all very strange, and if that weirdo boy made just a single wrong move, Ichigo would attack without hesitation. He could feel that boy was more than he seemed to be, no matter how inconspicuous he seemed to be. Then again, Rugia also seemed to be a fair bit on edge, so…

"That's good. But, Luffy, I have to ask… what can you remember from before you, well, died?" Rugia asked, getting the conversation back on track. Luffy squinted, looked off into the distance, and thought real hard. He really couldn't remember that much. Most names except everything to do with the war seemed pretty much gone. Faces, names, all that was poof gone. But he could feel them.

"I sailed the blues, with my Nakama. We were searching for… something. The-, the One Piece. If you found the One Piece, you become Pirate King! That was my dream," Luffy reminisced, already having taken off his straw hat to peer longingly at it. Just thinking about his Nakama made his heart ace. He had to find them, and that soon. "I don't remember much, but… but this is my treasure! This is what tells me who I am, what I want to be! And… I need to find my Nakama. They're my family."

"I'm not sure how to ask this, but, are you sure the events you're talking about only happened a year or so ago? There aren't many pirates about at this time, and I don't think any of them are in search of a 'One Piece'," Rukia said, her eyes trailing towards the seemingly critical straw hat.

"Huh? No, that's-, that's impossible!" Luffy said, slamming his hands on the table to stand up. "Sure, I haven't been counting the days or anything, but I'm sure it hasn't been that long! Which-, which blue is this? We were last in the New World, I'm sure I can catch back up to them if I hurry!" Luffy said, and with that, he was off, and nobody could stop him.

"Hey! Calm it, squirt!" Ichigo said, trying to reach out to stop him from going outside, but not only would he have been by far too weak for it, but it wouldn't have helped anyway. Luffy had made up his mind. And with that, he burst out the door, and let the cool night breeze flow over him. The night was dark and the sky was lit by countless, oddly-placed stars. Luffy was no astrologist, he'd never spent too much thought on the formations in the sky, but even so, he could tell something was wrong.

The biting breeze ran through his ebony hair, the edge of his treasure ebbing under the strain. He seemed to be standing in a road of some sort, but it was all strange. Everything was covered in some sort of hard, dark looking rock, moulded into specific shapes. It felt… artificial. Wrong. Nothing was right. The air tasted… different. Could Luffy recall a time on land where the air didn't have that familiar salty tang to it? No, the only instances of that were on the truly large islands.

"Hey, cool it, I said!" Ichigo shouted, bursting out of the house to stop Luffy, Rukia closely behind him. Thankfully, Luffy hadn't gone anywhere, but was instead just kind of standing around, looking around in confusion.

"Luffy, I think I might have a solution!" Rukia said, grabbing Luffy's exposed white shoulder. Luffy didn't seem to notice. "I think-, I think you're not from this world! Not this world of the living, not Soul Society, none of them! I believe that you might just be from an entirely different universe, with a war and pirates and-, and you!"

The second the words left her mouth, a pressure unlike anything she had ever felt slammed into her, as if a truck had fallen straight on top of her, crushing both spirit and body. The world seemed to be on her shoulders, and she could barely handle her. She could barely breathe. Her whole body trembled and shook violently, whether in fear or exertion, she didn't know. She couldn't bear thinking of it.

"So, you're saying… I can never see my Nakama again?" Luffy rumbled, his head turning slightly, allowing his eye to meet Rukia's. She was scared, frightened, trembling. Just the sight of his abyss-like gaze was enough to render her speechless. He hated to see her like this. He hated to feel this… empty. But he couldn't help it. He knew she was right.

But admitting she was right was a different thing entirely.

It meant admitting that all he'd worked for, all the friends he'd made, all the enemies he'd defeated, all the goals he'd aspired for - was all gone. Dead. Like him.

Men don't cry.

But even so, he could feel the red-hot tears welling up in his eyes.

The pressure wasn't just on Rukia and Ichigo, he felt it just as well on his own shoulders. He should have gotten mad. Maybe hurt someone. But he couldn't. The feelings he'd been repressing the last year, the need for friendship, the desire for solace, his longing for what was robbed of him, it all became too much.

He simply collapsed, and wailed. Cried. Mourned his own death.

The pressure was gone, and they could breathe. But even so, they didn't dare take another step closer to the heap of sobs that Luffy had become. For a good five minutes, the two soul reapers simply stood and watched as the howl of a hollow took on a far more melancholic tone.

And after that was all said and done, he simply passed out. Fell asleep right there on the curb.

Ichigo and Rukia met gazes, both equally tired, confused and scared.

"...I'll bring him inside again," Ichigo said, trodding up to the passed out young boy without any conviction that what he was doing was the right thing to do. Rukia couldn't do anything but follow him back inside. Once inside, she closed the door, sat down by the table, and waited for Ichigo to come back downstairs.

"He's fast asleep alright. I put him in dad's bed. So, uh, Rukia, now that he's asleep, what the fuck is going on?..." Ichigo politely enquired, plopping down on the chair adjutant to Rukia's, spreading his legs wide more out of exhaustion than anything else. Rukia, face covered in her hands, didn't answer at first.

"...I'm not sure what to tell you. Luffy is… a hollow, you're right on the money with that. But it's not that easy."

"Yeah, I can see that! How come he doesn't have a mask? How come he seems perfectly normal?"

"I… I don't know! I've never seen anything like him, but… you felt that spirit energy too. He doesn't seem too hostile right now, but that could change at any moment. I'll be staying the night to keep an eye on him, and if he's more alright in the morning, I know just the vendor to ask about these sorts of things. Until then, you'll have to keep him distracted. But we'll keep in touch," Rukia said.

Ichigo squirted at her. He still didn't trust this chick too much, not that he trusted the guy snoring loudly upstairs either. But it's not like he had a choice in the matter.

"...You do know it's Thursday tomorrow, right? How am I supposed to keep that weirdo occupied while I'm at school!?"

"I don't know! Just do it!"

"Fine. Whatever. But I'll be ready to beat his ass at any time!" Ichigo scowled, crossing his arms. Rukia almost smirked at the idea but caught herself in time. "I'm going to bed. See you."

And with that, the evening was all rounded up, and another day was ready to begin.

And begin it did.