Disclaimer: Not mine

Chapter 3

Ichigo sat on top of a dune, looking out over the terrain, scanning for any potential threats. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, still shocked he could. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the mask remanent. He'd done it, he'd removed his mask and regained a human appearance. Hide the hole in his chest, use his hair to cover the mask and he could pass as one, other than the fact that he was dead. Lilynette and Starrk had been so proud when he'd removed his mask and with how quickly he had evolved. He knew that was because of Shiro's help. On his back was a sword, not that he knew how to wield it well yet, the others were teaching him and Shiro worked with him when he slept.

He looked down at his hands, trying to guess how old he was. He looked older than Lilynette now but definitely younger than Starrk, but there was a big gap in there. They still lived on the move too, keeping away from others and Ichigo was happy with that. He just knew something bad was in Las Noches. He looked up at the moon, something was coming, he could feel it, something that would change everything.

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In Karakura, a Senkaimon opened and a young woman stepped through, looking around in awe. This was her first trip to the world of the Living by herself. She had been her for training but not this particular area. She'd wanted an assignment like this for a long time and now finally she was here. Her Denreishinki beeped so she pulled it out and checked the alert before taking off.

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Aizen nodded, young Kuchiki had been sent through. He would wait a few days before setting the trap, let her get a little settled into her assignment, send a few normal reports. He still didn't think the twins were as good subjects as their brother, but he was still unable to find the boy's soul. He must have been consumed by a Hollow, Grand Fisher had vanished at the same time which was interesting. The twins were now fifteen, the age he had decided to begin with their brother, old enough to be able to fight but still young enough to be naïve, even with the training their Mother had insisted on.

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Karin knelt beside her unconscious twin. How had the Hollow snuck up on them? And on the worst night possible with their parents away. Yuzu had been knocked out before she could shoot it and Karin's Kido hadn't done much. Hearing it approach she did the only thing she could, she threw herself over her twin in a futile attempt to protect her. She tensed, waiting for the pain but it never came. She heard a roar and lifted her head to see the Hollow retreating, another girl, dressed in black and wielding a sword standing between them and it. "Shinigami," Karin whispered, and the older girl turned, surprise evident at what she had said.

"You can see me?" she asked, eyes scanning for the Hollow, knowing it would return.

"Yeah," Karin admitted. Other than her Dad, she'd never seen a Shinigami. The Visored and Urahara-san tended to be in gigai since they were in exile and hiding. "BEHIND YOU!" Karin yelled and the Shinigami turned, too slowly. She was knocked back, blood flying, before slamming into a telephone poll. Karin scrambled up, looking round for a weapon, anything. She ran to the Shinigami's side since she was there only hope to find she was conscious but obviously not getting up any time soon.

"Do you want…to save your family?" she asked, and Karin nodded. There's just one way You must become a Soul Reaper!"

"What?!" Wouldn't that kill her?

"Run the point of this Zanpakutō through the centre of your being and I will pour my powers into you. I don't know if it will work…but there is nothing else we can do."

"Give me the sword, Shinigami," Karin held her hand out, she was terrified but refusing to show it.

"My name is not Shinigami, I am Kuchiki Rukia."

"I'm Kurosaki Karin," she smiled weakly and took a deep breath before pushing the blade forward into her chest.

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Masaki was horrified. They had returned home to a hole in the house and their daughters unconscious in bed. Isshin had immediately turned to Urahara, who had been waiting in the kitchen for them, and he had told them what he had arrived in time to see. Karin was now truly a Shinigami, even though she was still alive. How could this have happened? She could have lost both her girls last night. She bit back a sob and felt familiar arms wrap around her, turning to bury her head in his chest as he stroked her hair.

"They're alive and safe," Isshin promised.

"Because of a Shinigami," she whispered.

"Urahara…"

"Wouldn't have made it in time and we both know it."

"I'll ask Tessai to put up stronger barriers," was all Isshin could offer.

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Ichigo dropped off the dune and slipped into Sonido, coming to a stop and looking to find that yes, it had been a human scream he had heard. The soul of a young man was running from a pack of Hollows and Ichigo didn't even hesitate. He didn't even bother drawing his blade as he went on the attack, a cero taking care of half the group in one shot before he was there and physically tearing the others apart. He then turned to see the human soul staring at him in terror. Ichigo lifted his hands, palms out. "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised. "My name's Ichigo," he introduced himself, just to be polite.

"Sora," the young man responded and Ichigo grinned.

"You need to go back to the Living World, so a Shinigami can send you on to Soul Society."

"Soul Society?" Sora asked warily and Ichigo nodded.

"It's where souls like you go when they pass on. If you linger too long or stay here, you'll end up like the ones I just killed."

"What about you? You aren't like them," Sora eyed the younger male warily, seeing the shard of white tucked up in orange hair. He was dressed in a tattered cloak and loose pants, feet bare. How long had he been here?

Ichigo shrugged. "I was, but now I'm an Arrancar. I don't need to eat souls and even when I did I only ate other Hollows." Arrancar was the term they'd heard whispered a few years ago for those like them who had removed their mask. He and Lilynette had sat down to work out the terms they had heard, apparently they originated with the Shinigami as a way to identify the stages of Hollow evolution. They had worked out they were Vasto Lorde since they didn't hunger for souls anymore and then removing their masks made them Arrancar. Personally, he thought it was overly complicated and that whoever had made the class system must have been bored.

"They were going to eat me?"

"Probably. So, you need to resolve whatever's keeping you attached to the Living World and move on or find Shinigami to send you on."

"My sister…I stayed for Orihime, I was all she had," he admitted.

"I had little sisters, I still miss them," Ichigo moved to sit on the sand near Sora who slowly sat as well.

"Have you seen them since?"

"No, I've never gone back, I was too scared," Ichigo admitted.

"Oh…how do I get back?"

Ichigo smiled. "I can show you the way," he promised, reaching out to open a Garganta to Karakura. "Not sure where you came from, but I only know Karakura Town."

"That's where I lived."

"Small world," Ichigo offered a hand and Sora took it, letting Ichigo take him into the gaping black hole. They ran along a glowing path until Ichigo reached out again, ripping open the blackness to reveal Karakura beneath them. "Stay safe."

"Thank you," Sora told him, meaning it and the younger male smiled at him before looking up.

"Shinigami is on their way; you'll be okay now." With that he closed the Garganta, retreating to the place he now called home.

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Feeling a Garganta open nearby, Kisuke headed out, only to find it closed and a plus soul nearby. He approached the young man with a smile. "You should move on young man, this town isn't safe, even for the dead."

Sora turned to look at him. "You can see me? Are you the Shinigami Ichigo said was coming?"

Kisuke froze, "Ichigo?" he demanded shakily, and the young man nodded. "What did he look like?"

Sora quickly described the young man who had saved him and then decided to add in what had happened, watching the odd man the whole time.

"I see…" Kisuke swallowed heavily. The description fit the child he had once watched from afar. To know he had become a Hollow…Grand Fisher must have taken his soul back to Hueco Mundo and then somehow the boy had gotten away but with no way out. "He mentioned sisters; did he tell you their names?"

"No," Sora shook his head. "He said he was too scared to come back to see them."

Kisuke nodded, that was a very human reaction. "Thank you, and I am sorry that you went through such a traumatic experience."

"You knew him, didn't you?" Sora asked as Kisuke shifted his grip on his cane.

"No…I never knew Ichigo." He pressed the handle to Sora's forehead and watched him fade away. He quickly left and headed for the Visored's warehouse.

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Shinji frowned as Kisuke practically stumbled through the barriers and into their home. "What's happened?" had something happened to the kids?

"Ichigo," he gasped out, taking deep breaths.

"What?" That definitely got Shinji's attention as Kisuke calmed down.

"I detected a Garganta opening and went to investigate but there was only a Plus there. He had been taken to Hueco Mundo by a Hollow…but was rescued by another. The Hollow's name was Ichigo, from Karakura and he has two sisters. The description also fits."

Shinji stared at him, horrified. All this time…the boy had been turned into a Hollow. "Tell me you can get us to Hueco Mundo."

"And do what? Kill him? Bring him here?" Kisuke demanded.

Shinji hesitated, "Killing him would purify him, set him free. There's no such thing as a good Hollow."

Kisuke looked away. "He saved that soul, brought him back. He remembers his sisters at least."

And purifying him would likely take that from him, leaving him with no memory of his human life. Shinji sighed. "Fine, we wait and see. That's if we can even find him while keeping away from Aizen's notice."

Kisuke nodded. "Three days."

"Are you going to tell them?"

"There's nothing to tell, yet."

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Shinji sighed and wrapped his cloak tighter around his body. He wasn't sure how long they'd been in the never ending desert, but they had yet to see anything matching the description Kisuke had given them.

In the end, they left empty handed, never noticing the three who tracked and watched them from a distance.

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"What do you think they were?" Lilynette asked, curious. Starrk just shrugged, glad they were gone.

"There was something…familiar about them…something Hollow," Ichigo offered after a while and she hummed, thinking.

"Like us?"

Starrk shook his head. "No, the feeling was too weak."

"Maybe…they're our opposites?" Ichigo offered and the conversation topic was soon changed. The strangers were gone so not anything to worry about. Las Noches was as far away as they could get from it and the many Hollows gathered there. It was a peaceful night.

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Kisuke walked through the rain and looked down at the crumpled soul form of Karin, blood pooling beneath her body, Yuzu nearby and barely conscious, Quincy cross glowing on its bracelet. Tessai soon appeared and they moved to get the girls back to the shop before calling Isshin to let their parents know what had happened. Rukia had been taken back to Soul Society, putting the Hōgyoku within Aizen's reach. That had not been the plan. He could not send these two girls to Soul Society alone but the only backup possible was their cousin. Two Quincy's and one substitute Shinigami would not be enough, even with Yoruichi leading them.

He could not ask the Visored, they would be recognised too easily, Soul Society would not take their presence well at all. Isshin could not go as he was believed to be dead. But they could not just let Aizen take it, not after a century of keeping it safe from the madman. Maybe if they had found Ichigo…and that made him chuckle at imagining the looks the idea of sending a Hollow in would have gotten him.

Of course, any plans hinged on Kurosaki surviving the restoration of her powers.

TBC….