AN: Thank you guys for enjoying the story so far! Here's Chapter 4 for you.

Chapter 4: Siblings

"I just don't get it," Ichigo said. He was still standing in his now-wrecked bedroom along with Rukia and the three girls from Remnant. "Why did Orihime's brother attack us?"

"Not 'us'," Rukia said. "He was after you. Judging from the last Hollow you killed, I'm guessing there's a more powerful Hollow behind this that wants to consume your spirit energy. It probably has several Hollows under its control. It knows where you are now and is sending other Hollows here to carry out its orders. Orihime's brother must have been sent here by that Hollow."

"And you expect me to kill him, now?" Ichigo asked angrily, grabbing Rukia by the collar of her stolen shirt. "There's no way I could do that!"

"It's too cruel," Pyrrha said.

"He has to!" Rukia said assertively, slapping Ichigo's hand away. "You don't have a choice. If you don't kill him, he'll wander around forever. And he'll keep coming after you again and again until he gets your soul. And your sisters might get caught in the crossfire again. Do you want that to happen?"

"Of course not!"

"Then you have to do it."

"Rukia?" Blake asked. She looked like she was deep in thought about something. "You said something earlier that's been bothering me."

"What?" Rukia asked.

"Earlier you said that a soul could turn into a Hollow if they have lingering regrets that cause them to resist passing on."

"Yeah, what about it?" Yang asked.

"Well, what if the object of that soul's regret was a specific person? Could the Hollow be drawn to that person?" The others started to realize what Blake was insinuating.

"Oh, no!" Ichigo gasped. "Orihime!"

Orihime and Tatsuki were sitting nervously, trying to figure out what was causing the noises they heard earlier. It had been about a minute, and the noise hadn't repeated. They were sitting in silence, when they heard a rip. They looked at the source of the sound, and saw the pink teddy bear fall off the shelf, a tear around its left eye.

"Oh!" Orihime said sadly. "Poor Enroku fell down." She crawled over to pick up the stuffed bear. "Oh my gosh, how'd you get this big rip in your head?" Tatsuki had gotten up and was now standing next to Orihime, leaning down to get a look at the bear. Just then, the two girls heard a loud "boom". And then another.

Ichigo was hopping from rooftop to rooftop, Rukia and Yang along for the ride, still in their pajamas. Pyrrha and Blake had been left behind to keep an eye on Ichigo's body, and had been instructed to call Urahara so he could take care of cleaning up Ichigo's room and making sure his family didn't remember anything if they came to investigate. Rukia was riding piggy-back, holding on to Ichigo's shoulders while he ran along the rooftops. Yang had insisted on coming along, feeling that she'd be able to help since she discovered she could still fight in her new body. Ichigo was carrying her bridal-style with her arms around his neck, much to their mutual embarrassment. With Rukia already on his back, this was the only way he could carry her.

"So then Hollows will attack their own families?" Ichigo asked to the diminutive girl on his back.

"Brothers, sisters, even children," said Rukia.

"That's awful," said Yang.

"Why would they do that?"

"Hollows are fallen souls, souls that were not guided into the Soul Society by a Soul Reaper. Souls that were not protected from other Hollows. Abandoned, they fall, lose their hearts and become Hollows themselves. Now that this Hollow has failed to devour your soul, it makes sense that he would go after his sister, the person he loved the most when he was alive. Remember the bruise we saw on Orihime's leg? She said it was from being hit by a car. But I've seen marks like that before. That mark could only have been left by a Hollow."

"So you think her brother's already tried to kill her once, and he's about to try it again?"

"That's very possible," Rukia said.

"That's it!" Yang said, tightening her grip around Ichigo's neck. "When we see this bastard, I'm taking him down!"

Orihime and Tatsuki heard the rhythmic sounds of footsteps. And they were getting closer. They were keeping a close eye on Orihime's front door, as the sounds seemed to be coming from just outside it. Orihime's right hand suddenly felt wet. She looked down, and saw that her hand was covered in blood. "What?" She said out loud. "Is this blood?" The footsteps stopped. Suddenly, Orihime felt something impale her, causing her body to fall backwards, her eyes still open, a shocked expression frozen on her face.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, concerned for her friend. Something struck her and sent her flying across the room, leaving a deep gash in her left shoulder. "What happened?" She asked, grabbing her shoulder. "Why am I bleeding?" She felt something grab her and drag her along the wall before throwing her into the middle of the room. She lifted herself up, sitting on her knees, as she looked around the room, scared out of her mind. "Something's here," she said out loud to herself. "But I don't see anything." She was pushed back onto the floor. Lifting her arm in front of her, she felt something there, but couldn't see anything. "What's happening?" She was starting to panic. "Who's there?"

Orihime was sitting in a corner of the room, cowering in fear. The monster that was attacking her was hovering over Tatsuki, and Orihime had no idea what was going on. The monster had the torso of a man, the lower body of a snake, and a mask resembling a skull. What is that monster? She thought. She was shaking uncontrollably from fear. And what is it doing to Tatsuki? She looked next to the monster and saw a girl lying on the floor. Who's that? She realized that the girl looked familiar. Very familiar. "That's me. But how?" She looked down, and saw a chain sticking out of her chest, the other end being attached to her prone body in front of her. "Where did this come from?" She reached up and tried to pull on the chain, causing a lot of pain. She heard a choking sound coming from Tatsuki, and she saw that the monster had clamped its hand firmly over her throat.

"Tatsuki!" She stood up. "I can't just sit here. I've got to do something!" She ran towards the monster and shoulder-tackled its arm, causing it to let go of Tatsuki. Tatsuki took a deep breath, clearly relieved at her windpipe being released. Orihime placed her hand on Tatsuki's shoulder and started lightly shaking her. "Tatsuki! Are you ok?" she asked. Tatsuki looked at her shoulder in fear, before swinging her arm and making Orihime let go.

"Get back!" she screamed, backing herself against the wall. "Stay away!"

"What are you screaming about Tatsuki?" Orihime asked, confused by her friend's behavior. "It's just me! What's wrong?"

"It's useless talking to her now, Orihime," a guttural voice said to her. She looked at the monster, and realized that it was the one who spoke. "She can't hear us. She can't even see us." Tatsuki fainted, the stress of the situation finally getting to her.

"Tatsuki!" Orihime called. "Why can't she see me?" She asked to the monster. "And how do you know my name?"

"That makes me sad, Orihime. Have you forgotten my voice?" He leaned closer to her, causing her to back up against the wall. "How could you? It's me, can't you tell?"

"What are you talking about?"

"It makes me sad, Orihime. Very, very sad." The monster reached its hand up and attempted to bring it down on her, but something stopped him. Orihime saw Ichigo standing there suddenly, with a giant sword in his hands, which was currently blocking the monster's hand.

"I'm the one you're really after," Ichigo said to the monster. "Leave her alone and fight me." He pushed on his sword, causing the monster to stumble back, blood leaking from its palm. It roared and disappeared through a portal. Ichigo kept his guard up, surveying the room when he spotted Tatsuki lying unconscious on the floor. Damn Tatsuki, Ichigo thought. How did you get caught up in this?

"Ichigo," Orihime said. "Thank you for rescuing us from that thing. But where did you come from?"

"Whoa, hold on a minute," Ichigo said, confused. "How in the hell can you see me?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Ichigo then noticed the chain sticking out of her chest. He followed it back to another Orihime lying on the floor, unmoving. He gasped in surprise, before remembering a conversation he had with Rukia earlier. She had explained earlier to him that since Soul Reapers are spirit beings, ordinary humans can't see them. Only other spirit beings can.

"Then, she's…"

"That's right," The Hollow's voice said. A portal had opened up, and the Hollow was coming out through it. "She's a spirit now. In other words, Orihime is dead." Ichigo gave out a battle cry and charged at the Hollow with his Zanpakuto raised. Luckily, Orihime's apartment had a higher ceiling than Ichigo's bedroom, so he didn't have to worry about his Zanpakuto getting caught. Unfortunately, it didn't matter much as the Hollow avoided the overhead strike anyway, slithering past Ichigo and grabbing Orihime's chain, yanking her up off the ground. Ichigo went in for another strike, but it was blocked by the Hollow's tail, which then whipped at Ichigo, sending him out the window. He stopped himself, in midair, and was now standing on thin air.

"Stay back," The Hollow said, holding up Orihime. She was being held firmly by the Hollow's right hand. The Hollow brought its tail down, smacking into Ichigo and sending him plummeting to the streets below.

"Ichigo!" Rukia and Yang called. They had been waiting outside while Ichigo rushed in to deal with the Hollow.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said a second time, trying to shake him awake. "Get up!" He continued to lie there. The Hollow had retreated back inside the house, Orihime still in its grasp. Yang looked up, a furious look on her face. She looked back at Ichigo for a second, and then ran towards the house.

Orihime watched from within the monster's grasp as Ichigo was smacked by its tail, sending him careening to the ground. "Ichigo! No!" she shouted. "He's hurt. I have to go help him. Let me go," she pleaded to the monster. "Let me go!"

"Orihime," the monster said. "Have you forgotten me?"

Orihime looked at the monster, a wave of realization hitting her. "Sora? Is that you?"

"Ichigo, come on, get up," Rukia said. He sat up, his forehead bleeding from a gash he got when he connected with the pavement.

"I'm trying," he said, still in pain, and with a splitting headache.

"Yang already ran inside," Rukia told him.

"Oh, crap! I gotta help her!"

"Hold on. This is not going to be easy. So where are you hurt?"

"Like you care. Forget about it. I'm OK."

"Good, because you've got work to do. Listen carefully. That Hollow may have been her brother once. But now it's nothing but a monster. You've got to stop it. It has no heart, so put aside all your feelings and destroy it."

The monster had put Orihime down, and they were just looking at each other, Orihime having a look of shock on her face.

"Are you really Sora, my brother?" she asked the monster.

"Yes, Orihime. It's me."

"You're lying. My brother was gentle. He would never do these kinds of things."

"I was so lonely." Orihime gasped in surprise. "You were beginning to forget about me, sister, a little more each day. After I died, you prayed for me every day. I watched you. It was your prayers and your thoughts that gave me peace. It relieved me of my loneliness. But after a year had passed, things changed. You became friends with that girl. And then, you started to pray for me less and less. Then, when you entered high school, you stopped praying for me completely. That's why I was so lonely."

"Sora, you don't understand," Orihime tried to explain, but her brother grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

"Just listen to me Orihime," he said. "If you still have even a shred of love for me, you will not betray me again. Do exactly as I say. I will deal with him. It won't take long. I shall devour this Soul Reaper and put an end to this." He turned around and started moving towards the window.

"No!" Orihime pleaded with her brother. "This doesn't have anything to do with Ichigo! Leave him alone! It's not right for you to hurt him just because-"

"Shut up Orihime," her brother demanded. "Don't tell me what's right when it's your fault I've become this monster!" He grabbed her with both hands, lifting her up into the air. He pressed one of his thumbs against her throat and started choking her. "I should kill you first for the way you abandoned me, for choosing this girl and Ichigo over honoring my memory. I'll kill you!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it, you bastard!" The shout came from Yang, who, with a mighty roar, leaped up and punched the monster in the face. Her punch made him recoil, causing him to drop Orihime. Sora tried to reach towards Orihime with his left hand, but Yang punched it, hard enough to hear a crack. The monster that was once Sora gripped his left hand in pain. "How dare you?" Yang snarled at the monster. "How can you even think about killing your own sister?! It's the job of older siblings to protect their younger sisters! And here you are trying to kill yours! That's unforgivable!"

"Shut up," the monster growled. "You don't know what you're talking about. Orihime is mine."

"Oh, I don't know, huh?"

"I was 15 when Orihime was born. I raised her when our parents abandoned us. To me she has been more like a daughter than a sister."

"You think I don't know what that's like?" Yang snapped. "I had to raise my little sister too when our mom died! So don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. I would never, in a million years, think about harming a hair on Ruby's head!"

"I'm done talking to you," the monster said. "Orihime! Come with me now! Back to when it was just you and me, happy together. If you'll come then I promise I will spare these other souls."

"Don't listen to him!" Yang snapped. "He's just a monster now. He can't think of you as his sister anymore. You're just food to him."

"Are you sure?" Orihime asked, standing up, a tear rolling down her cheek. As she did, the light reflected off her hairpins, catching the monster's attention. He stood there, staring at it for a few seconds, before abruptly giving an anguished wail and slamming his mask against the wall.

"What the hell?" Yang exclaimed.

"Brother!" Orihime yelled. He stood frozen for a few seconds before slowly moving his head away from the wall.

"Orihime is mine!" He abruptly shouted, smacking Yang aside with a sudden attack from his tail, sending her flying against the wall. He reached out his right hand to try to grab Orihime, but it was sliced off by Ichigo, who had finally made it back upstairs. The monster quickly recovered, and charged at Ichigo with its mouth wide open. Ichigo blocked its open mouth with his sword.

"Orihime doesn't belong to anyone, least of all you!" Ichigo pushed back against the monster, causing it to fall out through the hole in the wall. Ichigo yelled and jumped after it. He raised his sword for an overhead swing as he fell towards the Hollow, preparing to strike with all his might.

"Do it!" Rukia yelled from below. He wasn't fast enough. The Hollow quickly turned its head and spit an acidic substance at Ichigo's hands, causing him to lose his grip on his sword. He was then smacked by the tail again, falling to the ground. The Hollow quickly flew down and charged at him, its mouth open wide. Ichigo turned to look at it, and braced for impact.

He felt a splash of blood hit his face, but no pain. Looking at the monster again, he saw Orihime, her shoulder firmly clamped by the Hollow jaws, her arms wrapped around its head in a hug. "Orihime," Ichigo said, surprised at the girl's actions. She fell to her knees, her arms still wrapped around the monster.

"Orihime, why did you do that?" Sora asked.

"Sora, I had to save Ichigo," she said. "Because this is all my fault. The reason you're this way, it's because of me, because I begged you not to leave me alone. That's why you weren't able to find peace. And it's all my fault.

"Oh, Orihime," Sora said somberly.

"Since you died I've always had the sense that you were watching over me. Because I'd asked you to. Even yesterday, when that car was about to hit me, you protected me, didn't you? I have this bruise because you pulled my leg to get me out of the way in time. That was you, wasn't it?"

"That explains it," Rukia said. Yang had finally come outside, and was leaning on Rukia for support, clearly injured. She was holding her side, so her ribs were likely fractured.

"So he wasn't trying to kill her earlier," Yang said.

"Then one day I realized that if I kept depending on you to stay by my side you'd never be able to rest in peace. But if I showed you that my life was really happy, and that you didn't need to worry about me anymore you could pass on," Tears had started to well up in Orihime's eyes by now, and Yang was having difficulty keeping her own tears in check, too. "I never dreamed it would make you sad and lonely. I would never want to do that to you, brother." Orihime let go of her brother's neck and fell to the ground.

"Orihime!" Sora cried. Suddenly, his mask started to flicker, fading in and out of existence rapidly. He let out an anguished cry.

"Rukia, what the hell is happening to him?" Ichigo asked.

"The part of him that's still human is fighting the Hollow for control." Rukia explained. "Evidently, this one didn't become a Hollow by choice. He must've been taken over."

"What do you mean, 'taken over'?" Yang asked. "Who took him over?"

"A soul that is devoured by a strong Hollow is manipulated by that Hollow. And whoever's controlling him desires your spirit energy, Ichigo. So it took over this poor soul planning to use it to attack you. It hoped that since you knew this soul in life, you would hesitate to fight him. A hoped that proved correct."

"That's so cruel," Yang said.

"Right now, the brother's soul is desperately fighting that Hollow for his sister's sake." With one final yell, the mask exploded, revealing the face of Sora. Orhime looked at her brother's face, a small smile starting to form, before she fell unconscious.

"No," Sora said.

"Orihime! Ichigo exclaimed.

"It's all right," Rukia exclaimed, setting Yang down. "Fortunately, the Chain of Fate is still connecting her soul to her body. As long as it's still intact she won't die." She knelt in front of Orihime. "I need to treat her. Stay back. My kido should be able to save her." She placed her hand on Orihime's injured shoulder, and her hand began radiating a green glow. Orihime's hairpin glistened in the light, catching Sora's attention again.

"That hairpin she's wearing was a present from you, wasn't it Sora?" Ichigo asked. "She told me that once." Sora was looking at her, a look of worry on his face. "That's why she wears it every single day." Sora said nothing, simply standing up taller before turning around and slithering towards Ichigo's sword, which had been imbedded in the pavement. He picked it up with his left hand.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked.

"I only have a short time before the Hollow overwhelms me again and changes me back into a monster. So while I'm sane and can still think clearly, I'll end this." He positioned the sword so that the tip was pointing at his throat.

"No, wait, don't do that!" Ichigo said.

"Ichigo," Rukia said sternly. "It's all right. He's made the right decision. Once you become a Hollow you can never go back to what you were again. Passing on is the best thing for him."

"But Rukia-"

"What do you mean 'passing on'?" Asked Yang. "How can he pass on now?"

"It's fine. Exorcising a Hollow is not the same thing as killing it. A Soul Reaper's Zanpakuto cleanses the soul and allows it to enter the Soul Society. That's why Soul Reapers exist in the first place, to help all souls find their way and finally rest in peace."

Ichigo and Yang nodded in understanding and looked back at Sora. He nodded contently at them, before closing his eyes and bringing the sword closer to his neck.

"Wait," Orihime's voice weakly said. "I have to tell you something." Sora lowered the sword and looked at his sister. "This hairpin. Remember the argument we had about it the day you gave it to me?" Sora looked like he was about to start crying. "I said I didn't like it because I thought it didn't look grown-up enough for me. I knew I hurt your feelings. And you left without saying anything else. And it was the last time I saw you alive. So now I want to say what I should have said to you when you went off to work that day." Orihime sat up with Rukia's help. Tears were streaming down her face. "My brother, have a good day."

"Thank you, Orihime," Sora said, a content smile on his face. He plunged Ichigo's sword into his chest. His body began to glow with a brilliant blue light, dissolving into blue particles that scattered in the wind. Ichigo's sword fell to the ground. Orihime looked at the particles in wonder, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw that the hand belonged to Yang, who had tears running down her face, too. Orihime finally couldn't take it anymore, and broke down crying, hugging Yang for comfort. The two girls sat there, crying in each other's arms, while Ichigo and Rukia stood there, trying their best not to get choked up.

"No way!" a girl said. Orihime was having lunch on the roof of the school with her friends the next day, and was trying to tell them about what happened last night, but something wasn't quite right about how she remembered it.

"Really!" Orihime tried to explain. "What happened was a sumo wrestler with a gun blasted a hole through the wall into my room last night!"

"Huh?" said one of her friends. She had short, wavy brown hair. "Please, Orihime, if you're going to make up stories at least make them sound realistic. Like maybe a pro wrestling match spilled out of the ring." The other girls started laughing and conversing amongst themselves, not noticing that they were being watched by four teens. They were watching the conversation with confused expressions on their faces.

"Sounds like we missed quite the event," Pyrrha said in a rare moment of sarcasm.

"Yeah, seriously," Blake agreed. "Sounds like it was a wild night."

"You know that isn't what happened," Yang said.

"Yeah, we already told you what really happened," said Ichigo. "Rukia just altered their memories." After the events of the previous night, Rukia had sprayed Orihime and Tatsuki with a substance that replaced their memories with something else. The problem was she had no control over what the new memory would be. Nobody could have expected something THIS absurd, though.

"You used the same thing on my family the other day, didn't you?" He asked Rukia.

"That's right," she said. "I did." Ichigo was just standing there, not saying anything. "What's wrong?"

"I'm still not ready to actually commit to this or anything. I'm not so noble a person that I can promise to risk my life for a complete stranger just like that. But, I could never just stand around and watch while someone else was being hurt. So, I'll help you." He heldout his hand for Rukia to shake. "At least I will for now, with this work of yours, as a soul reaper."

"That's plenty noble," said Pyrrha.

"I'm sure you'll do great," said Blake.

Rukia smiled and shook his hand. "I'll be counting on you."

"Way to go, Ichigo!" Yang said, hooking her arm around his neck. "Congratulations on being a real Soul Reaper now! That's so cool!"

"Hold on a second," Ichigo said to her, addressing the other new girls. "You three owe me an explanation."

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"Don't play dumb," he said. "Yesterday Blake said you can't go to the Soul Society because your souls aren't from this world. What did you mean by that? Since you're apparently going to be staying in my closet, you at least owe me this. So tell me: Who are you three?"

The girls looked at each other for a few seconds before they all nodded.

"Ok, fair enough," Yang said. "Where do we start?"

AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I would like to answer a few questions from the reviews.

To Guest Isa: TO answer your question: Yes. In regards to the role the RWBY characters are playing, I'm using the first arc in the same way the show is. It's for establishing all of the characters and building the world. I'm giving each one their moments to shine, like in this chapter, where I gave Yang a speech that Ichigo originally delivered. As I said in a previous chapter, the girls will all become Soul Reapers with Ichigo, helping to fix the power imbalance, and once I get to the Soul Society Arc, the RWBY girls will really come into their own. That arc is when Bleach shifted to focusing on one-on-one fights, so I'm going to be creating new fight scenes for the RWBY girls. Thank you for the feedback.

To Trey Alexander: Yeah, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

So, thank you all for reading my fic so far. The next chapter will be up on Friday, April 5.