The monsters usually came just after midnight, and again there was no exception. On schedule, the hollows that haunted daily the little girl Reiko slouched toward her. Usually, she remained awake in fear, alert and expecting to run when on cue her monsters arrived, but this time she was sleeping soundly, with her hero to guard her.
She hadn't slept so well since the days with her mother, but her peaceful night was interrupted when the painful screeches of a hollow army groggily aroused her from her serene state.
"Wake up!" she shouted twice, but her hero, Ichigo would not. He was deeply asleep, unable to protect her.
The hollows were close, enough that their pounding steps shook the ground beneath her with enough force to stifle her confidence, yet not enough to waken the one who still slept.
Hugging Mamoriko she ran, ran as she was accustomed to, but because she had slept so well she was not in her usual condition. She stumbled and tripped, and was forced to crawl behind a pile of broken wood as a hopeful space to hide.
She could see one of the hollow's eyes, mask, and breath as it slouched toward her, on the other side of the high pile of broken wood. It sniffed the air, peered through the mists of the dark night with gleaming eyes, searching for its prey. It seemed to look directly at her, as though his eyes were leering through the only wall separating the two, but it only grinned, flashed its teeth, then slouched stealthily away, blending with the darkness.
She exhaled in relief, loosening her grip on the teddy bear, allowing it to exhale its tension as well. She was safe for the moment, but the moment did not last long, as to her dread her empty stomach released a sharp, longing growl. She suddenly wished she had accepted Ichigo's offering; she wished that she had trusted her hero.
She fell, and fumbled with her feet and hands as she tried to move in any way possible, unable to raise again to her weak and shaking legs. She could hear and see and sense and fear the hollows looming closer to her, encircling her, entrapping her.
One of them stepped forward, and as his dark body blended with the dark surroundings only a white mask stalking her was visible. She continued to scramble hopelessly away, but although the hollow did not seem to accelerate, he was now close enough for his cold breath to touch her skin.
"You're hungry, aren't you?" he mocked knowingly.
"No!" she denied desperately.
"You feel the emptiness, don't you? Let us share our pain. Together we will end our eternity of hunger." The hollows crowded, merged at where she was sitting, and bit into her flesh. Soon she became a hollow, with the same features as the others that it was impossible to recognize that she was once human and any discrepancy between her and the army. "Eat! Consume all that you will! Take his flesh and spirit, and fill the emptiness that has hindered you your entire lifespan!"
She screeched, but her roar was much louder and instilled greater fear to all who heard it. The echoes seemed almost an increase over the original, growing in intensity as intent and focus became more clear.
Her scream was enough to finally wake Ichigo, who instinctively raised one hand to wrap around Zangetsu's hilt. He scanned his immediate surroundings, but did not see any threat though he sensed danger was near. He recognized the numerous howls travelling through the air as the same howls he had heard from all the hollows from his experience.
He started to worry when he noticed Reiko was not beside him. He traced her small footsteps, but the trail ended abruptly, as though she had sprouted wings and no longer found her legs necessary. Where the trail ended, the teddy bear could be seen, lying on the ground with more stuffing escaping from its wound. Though it was in pain, it was cursed to continue a smirk on its face.
He bent to touch it, but a hollow blasted him from the side, rolling him through scattered debris. He picked himself up and this time faced the next attack with Zangetsu, managing to deflect it. The hollow seemed inexperienced, and slowly, Ichigo gained the advantage, but was having difficulty fighting in the dark. Though he had trained his ability to sense spiritual energy, being one of his weaknesses, the task seemed to become more difficult in the dark though logically it should not have any effect.
Yet despite the dark, when he was within striking distance of his enemy, the hollow, he could see clearly that Reiko's spirit was trapped inside that monstrous flesh and mask. He abandoned his strike, which was initially designed to be a deafening blow, and took a hit on his shoulder instead.
"Reiko, stop!" he begged. "It's me, Ichigo! Don't you remember me? Aren't you my fan? Why are you doing this?"
She did not respond, like one who understood a different language. She attacked again, the same spot on his shoulder causing more than twice the amount of the previous suffering.
"Hollows must eat," she stated in a different voice than her own. "We feel the painful emptiness within us, and we must fill it, by consuming the spirit from others that we lack. We must eat. It is our only hope."
Ichigo was trapped, and her teeth began to claw in, but on the exact moment of contact, she stopped, snapped away, and emitted horrible outbursts of struggle. He thought he almost saw the child within, crying, longing for her lost mother. During the short moment of contact, each glimpsed into the other's mind. He could see her mother, caught by Renji and unable to feed her starving child, her princess, eternally regretting her inability as her child would hunger for her eternity. He began wishing for more power, to save her.
His hand hit something soft, and he saw her teddy bear. "To raise your spiritual power, please hug Mamoriko," he remembered hearing her say, when she was still her. He truly believed it would work, and it did. Zangetsu began to glow, creating a pink light. An amazing outburst of strength power completely destroyed the hollow, obliterating the mask, leaving only Reiko behind, but it was too late.
"I'm so hungry," she cried. "I hurt you. I'm sorry. I hurt Mamoriko. I'm sorry. It's my fault. I'm so hungry. There's nothing to eat."
Ichigo was forced to watch her die slowly. He tried to feed her the candy, but it was far too late, but she smiled in death, thanking him for returning her to her true form. She revealed that it was a hollow's one wish to become human once again, and there was a myth that consuming the spirit of many humans was the only way. Her last words were: "To raise your spiritual power, please..."
Using Zangetsu to force his body to stand, he stared blankly at her dead body for a long time, before realizing that he used too much energy that night, and was hungry himself. He fell, but was caught by a large welcoming hand.
"Jidanbou, what are you doing here?" he asked tiredly.
"I've been looking for you," he replied. "I brought you food. You look tired. You can rest for now. By the time you wake up, I will have reached the south gate. Then you can do what you came her to do." That's right. He still had to do what he came here to do. He hadn't forgotten.