Ichigo had skipped school that day to visit his mother's grave with his family. It had become a tradition, that they would visit, mourn, then prove to her that they were still living well. It was a day that marked the converging point of their eternal cycle of sadness unto happiness.
The day proceeded normally, like all the other times he had visited his mother's grave, as normal as visiting a grave was for him. It was normal because it was the same as it was every year, until Tatsuki showed up waving to him from afar. Ichigo overreacted and stampeded to go talk with her, causing Karin to grow suspicious and her suspicions to cause Yuzu to worry.
They found a secluded area where they could talk with each other privately. "What did you come all the way here for?" he asked gruffly, although he was not exactly upset.
"I was worried," she said carefully. "You seemed down lately. Are you all right?"
"It's the same as every year. She's still dead."
"Not about her. I mean, about Rukia."
"What about her?"
"You two weren't getting along as well recently, like you usually do."
"It's not like we really get along well. We're just always together because of circumstances."
"Did something happen?"
"She's made because I ditched today's radio. That's all."
"I there's more. Why won't you tell me about your shinigami work?"
"I already told you. It's not something you should get involved with."
"Then, what about Rukia?"
"She's different. She saved my family; I owe her."
"I owe you, too."
"Why? I haven't done anything."
"No, you've - no, it's not important. Anyway, I brought a portable radio. You're worried about whether or not Rukia is doing well, right? Well, even if you don't say so, I'll leave this here, just in case you ever change your mind."
Ichigo stared at the radio for a long time, and by the time he finally decided to listen, it was no use since the show must have already long ended; however, he still turned the radio on, hoping to hear her voice. As expected, there was only static, like the currents that cause confusion between people trying to communicate from faraway. But every once in a while, he thought he could hear lapses of her voice, desperately fighting the static, fighting the current.
He listened harder. He closed his eyes, and imagined that there was no currents between them. The static disappeared, and he could hear a few scant words: hollow, Grand Fisher, school, cemetery. He eventually realized what had happened: the dangerous hollow Grand Fisher was spotted near the school, and was heading in the direction of the local cemetery. His family was in danger.
He rushed to his mother's grave, where is family would be, not knowing how he would fight without Rukia to give him his shinigami powers, but he went anyway. When he got there, his family was safe, peacefully praying at his mother's memorial.
He knew hollows had a tendency to attack people with high spiritual energy. If neither his family nor he was the target, then who was? Of course - the only other person in the area with spiritual energy was Tatsuki. Her life was in danger.
Tatsuki was leaving the cemetery peacefully, wondering why she had even come and skipped her important judo club activities before the big upcoming tournament and given him her favourite radio. Well, it didn't matter, she thought.
As she left, she could see and hear ghosts, talking and laughing normally as if they weren't ghosts at all and were still alive. She wondered if there were people that would actually want to see ghosts; to her, it was just a burden. She wondered how Ichigo felt about it.
Among the noises she heard, something different, something monstrous suddenly struck the air. It sounded neither like any of the ghosts she had met nor a human. It was a disturbing, ugly howl, that caused all the other serene spirits to scatter.
She heard thumps, of large feet pounding into the ground, getting stronger, getting nearer. At first it seemed the noises and the depressions in the ground were coming from nowhere, but then she could see him. He was like the monster that had attacked Orihime, but worse.
"Are you a hollow?" she demanded fearlessly. Her fear was hidden behind anger and determination.
"You certainly look delicious," Grand Fisher chuckled, licking his lips. "You must have a high spiritual energy. It's certainly rare, for a human. You seem to be stronger than most shinigami. I will certainly savour this."
"What's with your kind? Why did you attack Orihime?"
"What a dumb question. We attack whomever we like. We eat, because we are hungry. We need strong spiritual energy to sustain our existence, like yours."
Strands of his fur extended, and like ropes entangled her, clenching her tightly and restricting her arms. He lifted her to his jaws, but suddenly, somehow, there was a bright flash of energy, temporarily blinding him as his ropes were ripped apart.
She didn't know how, but somehow she had freed herself. The hollow seemed incredibly hurt, and infuriated, but he soon calmed himself.
"I won't let you use that attack again," he said, as something resembling a small innocent boy appeared. "Everyone has someone in their memory whom they can't attack. This is how I have survived against those shinigami this long. I saw your memory. After I feed the information to this empty body, it will assume that person. What will you do."
There was another bright flash, and the small boy transformed into...