Hello everybody.

For all my other stories, I currently have no inspiration whatsoever, so I probably won't be updating any of them for a while. Also, I wrote on my profile that I'm on strike. My other excuse. This is currently the only story (that I've actually posted on FanFiction) that I had any ideas for, so here is your update!

Okay then. Allons-y!

(Should actually say that at the beginning of every new chapter of every story because I'm a massive Whovian. For those of you who don't watch Doctor Who or you simply don't know what it means, it's French for 'Let's go'.)

Making it up as I go along

'Hime? Are you in there?'

I turn away from the window I was staring out of, sitting on my bed of the dormitory I live in, wondering what Rangiku wants with me. We haven't talked since she slapped me, probably because I was too afraid to attempt to talk to her again. It was horrible. I love Rangiku like a mother, but I'm terrified by the idea that she's lacking her Cêpan duties.

'Yes, Rangiku,' I say softly, contemplating the possibility of her having forgiven me for annoying her. I've certainly forgiven her for slapping me, as I am rubbish at holding grudges. Tatsuki says I'm too forgiving, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.

Rangiku opens the door, and I'm glad to see there's no pinkish glow in her cheeks, a prominent feature that represents her being drunk. She's sober right now. Good.

'Look… I'm sorry about losing it with you,' Rangiku begins awkwardly. 'I guess we both know that I can be quite a witch when I've had a bit to drink.' She gives a hesitant laugh, and I force myself to smile. 'It… it was wrong of me to hit you. I'm sorry.'

The smile on my face isn't forced anymore, but genuine.

'Am I forgiven?' I whisper, wanting to know whether she expects an apology from me too.

'Hime, you have nothing to be sorry about,' Rangiku says hastily. 'You were right-' She lowers her voice, looking through the door before closing it. 'I'm not a good Cêpan. It's just, I've had a long time to think about it. There are only six Garde left, and who knows how many Cêpans? There could be Loric children out there, all alone because the Hollows have killed their guardians. How will we ever be able to defeat the entire Hollow race with such a small number?'

Although I know she's trying to make it up to me, it still upsets me that she's lost all faith, and it looks as if I'm going to have to comfort and reassure her- not the other way around.

'We can't give up,' I say. 'The others are out there, preparing themselves by developing Legacies- and I am too. I've already started.'

Rangiku blinks. 'What?'

I am overjoyed that I can finally tell her. 'I have my first Legacy. Hydrolocomotion. I can walk on water.'

Rangiku looks stunned. Maybe she's proud of me, I dare to hope. Will she finally recognise the significance of my abilities…?

'Did anyone see you?' she demands quickly, a rather panicked look in her eyes.

'No,' I reply, stunned. This was not the reaction I was expecting, or rather, the reaction I was hoping for. I should have seen it coming. I feel so stupid… 'But it's good, isn't it?' I try again. 'Surely in some situations, Hydrolocomotion must be useful? I'm getting stronger so I can help the other Garde-'

'Orihime, honey,' Rangiku interrupts gently, 'just because I'm not angry and wasted right now doesn't mean I've changed my opinion. The Elders of Lorien sent us on a doomed mission- I don't know how they thought we could possibly succeed. The best I can do for you is give you a human life in the hope that we are never discovered by the Hollows. If your Legacies are appearing then I am afraid you're just going to have to hide them so no one ever suspects you're anything other than a normal girl.'

There are tears of sadness in my eyes now. I can't help it. I hate feeling this weak but I'm too upset to prevent myself from crying at the injustice of it. 'You mean I'm just supposed to deny m-my p-p-powers?'

Rangiku looks sincerely sorry. She opens her mouth to say something but the door to the dormitory opens and one of the sisters walks in, closely followed by a small girl with short curly hair an unusual shade of green.

'I'm sorry- are we interrupting something?' Sister Natalia asks.

Rangiku and I both shake our heads. 'We were just having a conversation about nothing in particular,' Rangiku says cheerfully.

The little girl's sad, hazel eyes meet my own grey ones, and I shoot a smile in her direction, trying to blink away the tears so it won't look like I've been crying. The girl returns the smile tentatively, although there is no joy or enthusiasm behind it.

'This is Neliel,' Sister Natalia introduces briskly. 'She will be joining us here at the convent.'

Ah. Of course. No wonder the poor child looks so sad. I live here because Rangiku is one of the sisters, whereas most of the girls have been brought here because they have been made orphans, or no one in their families can look after them. Neliel certainly looks like someone who has lost her family.

'This is currently the only dormitory with a spare bed,' Sister Natalia continues. 'I'll give you ten minutes or so to settle in, then I'll come and collect you to show you around the convent.'

'I can show her around if you'd like, Sister,' I offer, and Rangiku sends me an approving smile.

'Thank you, Orihime,' Sister Natalia says, looking grateful. 'Remember to tell her the times for dinner and Church.'

'Yes, Sister.'

'Sister Natalia leaves a few seconds later, and little Neliel makes her way over to the spare bed, which is next to mine. As she busies herself with unpacking the small suitcase she's brought with her, Rangiku walks over to the door. But as she gets there, she stops and turns around to meet me in the eyes again. There is a strange twinkling in her blue eyes, almost as if there are tears in them, though the smile she is sending me is not sad.

'Your brother had Hydrolocomotion too,' she says, and then she disappears from sight.

I wonder what other Legacies my brother had.

I have only a few memories of the time on the ship on my journey to Earth, and most of them consist of me crying while Rangiku comforted me. I remember how much I missed my brother and I was tormented with the final images I saw of my home planet; Lorien was burning, my people were dying, and I was distraught that I had to leave while so many others died. Above that, I was completely terrified of the future that awaited the others and I.

But one other memory stuck- me talking with another one of the children. I can't remember what she looked like (her hair and eye colours have faded from my memories), but I recall her somehow managing to cheer me up. I remember another girl (vivid, spiky blonde hair and a funny chipped front tooth fixed in my memory) shouting at me. She was bossy and angry the whole time, and the first girl stopped her from bullying me.

I wish I could remember these children better. But I can't.

'Can you get into a lot of trouble here?' comes Neliel's small, timid voice, snapping me out of my nostalgia.

'It depends on whether you break the rules, and which ones you break,' I answer truthfully. 'It's good if you're not late for anything. And if you fold the sheets of your bed correctly. But don't worry,' I continue, smiling down at her. 'I bet you're a good girl.'

Neliel nods vigorously. 'I am!'

'How old are you?'

'Seven. How old are you?'

'Fifteen,' I reply.

Her eyes go big. 'Wow! That's really old!'

'Hey!' I exclaim, laughing. 'I'm not that old!'

Neliel giggles, then she seems to remember something and the laughter stops. A haunted look appears in her eyes, and she suddenly seems older and sadder than a seven-year-old should ever be.

'What happened?' I ask quietly.

She doesn't meet me in the eye. 'Mama and Papa d-died…' she promptly bursts into tears and I quickly pull her into a hug. This poor child. She reminds me so much of me when I was little, around the time I left Lorien. And I still do cry, although I try not to. But I cry the most when one of us dies. I cried when I was nine, because Number One died. I cried when I was twelve, when Number Two died. And, most recently, I cried even harder when Number Three died. Because each death means everything is going to get harder.

I can only wish the best of luck to Number Four, wherever he or she is.

'Two hours,' Rukia echoes the voice on the speakers. 'Two hours on the train with nothing to do.'

'You could talk to me,' I reply, pretending to be insulted.

'I can't believe I agreed to this,' she continues. 'I must really like you or something.'

I grin at that. 'What about your sister? I know she's out, but won't she mind this?'

'I guess I'll tell her I stayed over at Momo's house,' Rukia answers. 'Shirayuki's used to stuff like that.'

'Is she quite lenient, then?'

Rukia shakes her head. 'She's overprotective. She's constantly worrying about me.'

I frown. 'Why?'

Rukia looks uncomfortable, as if she's not used to discussing this with other people, but that doesn't stop her. Maybe she trusts me enough. I hope so. She sighs. 'She's not my real sister; she's my cousin. My real sister is dead.'

I watch closely as she elaborates.

'When I was very little, my parents, my sister and my brother-in-law all died in a terrorist bomb. After that, Shirayuki took me in. And she is like a sister to me.'

I stare at her, shocked. I would never have guessed that something so terrible could have happened to Rukia. She always acts strong and independent. Maybe that's because of it.

'Don't say you're sorry,' Rukia says firmly.

'I wasn't going to,' I reply quickly. How much should I tell her? 'I've only got my dad.'

'The rest of your family?'

'My mom and little sisters. Dead.' Not to mention my real dad.

We sit in silence for a while, and I'm glad that I'm in Rukia's company. Her planet may not have been destroyed, and she may not be in constant fear of an army of Hollows, but aside from that we can completely relate to each other.

'I hate it when you tell people what happened, and they say they're sorry,' Rukia says finally. 'Even Momo and Toshiro did. I hate it.'

'I know.' The same happens to me at every new school I go to. It drives me insane. But it wouldn't be half as bad as if the Hollows suddenly stopped trying to kill us, and instead said, 'We're sorry about destroying your planet. We're sorry about killing your people. We're sorry about hunting you down. No hard feelings?'

Would you murder every last one of them, Ichi?

Finally back, are you? I think dully. Shiro snickers.

Yep. Miss me?

Actually, yes. A little bit.

No.

I can read your thoughts, you know.

Then why bother asking? I snap.

'I think it would be better if we changed the subject,' Rukia murmurs. 'I know I promised to not ask questions, but there's no way I can keep that up.'

I smile. Typical Rukia.

'Toshiro's doing something that would be bad news for you, isn't he? He's actually gone to do whatever this is because of you?'

'Yes to the first and probably yes to the second,' I mutter.

'Have you done something bad?'

I have to be very careful about this answer. 'Possibly. Depends on your perspective.'

'Toshiro has been acting weird around you for a while now,' Rukia says. 'He only sticks around because Momo and I hang out with you. What exactly have you done, Ichigo?'

'It's… complicated.'

She looks frustrated. 'So complicated that you can't explain it to me?'

'He thinks there's something wrong with me,' I blurt out. 'He thinks I'm dangerous.'

'Why?'

'Because of… what happened on Halloween.'

Rukia stares at her feet, deep in thought. '… Who has he gone to see?'

'I don't know,' I answer, and this time I can be completely truthful. 'I just know they're bad news.'

'Now what?' Rukia asks as we come of the train.

'I found the address of the people he's visiting online,' I reply. I did more than that. I printed off pages from their website, titled, 'They Walk Among Us'. A whole website dedicated to aliens and conspiracies. I would probably label them as geeks living sad, sheltered lives, but the question they sent to Toshiro keeps popping up in my head.

Is he Number Four?

I can't help but feel a little excited by this. They could be Hollows. On the other hand, I might meet another member of the Garde tonight. But for someone of Loric origin to create a website about aliens and conspiracies… that's reckless. So the chances are they're not Loric.

The walk takes about twenty minutes. By now it's completely dark and the night is freezing. I clutch Rukia's small hand in my own, feeling her shivering beside me. I've offered to give her my jacket, but even before I asked I knew she'd decline. It's not in Rukia's nature to appear weak in any way. She just scoffed and punched me lightly in the arm affectionately.

I look up at the house that the address has led us to. Just an ordinary dethatched home, and yet I can just make out a sign on the wall beside the front window saying, They Walk Among Us. So this is definitely the place we're looking for, as the creators of the website must live here. The curtains are drawn but there is a faint glow which suggests that there are people in the room behind the windows. Probably the living room. Suddenly, I feel nervous. I've come this far, and I don't even have a plan. Up until now I've been focusing on the positives- you know, the fact that I actually managed to jump on a train to stop my friend from doing something stupid, and that Zangetsu not only believed but accepted the text I sent him saying that I was staying overnight at Toshiro's, and the amazing fact that Rukia is here with me. Great, so no plan other than improvisation. It's not as if I can simply ring the front door bell.

Rukia appears to have other ideas, however. She strides up the garden path towords the blue door, and I can just make out a door knocker shaped like one of those stereotypical aliens with weird shaped eyes and huge heads.

'Rukia!' I whisper frantically. 'Don't!'

She turns around, facing with with a confused frown. 'Why not?'

I sigh and walk up to her, resting my hand on her shoulder protectively. 'I'm not sure if the people in there are friendly, and the chances are, probably not.'

Great, so now that I think about it, I also appear to have lead my girlfriend into imminent danger. Shit.

'Toshiro's in here talking about how dangerous you are,' she explains lightly. 'It's you they're definitely not going to be happy to see. Toshiro probably hasn't even mentioned me. I can just stroll up and pull any old excuse. These people are geeks, you can tell. Maybe they won't hurt someone if that someone happens to be a cute teenage girl,' she jokes, grinning.

Damn, she's smart. 'Well, to be fair, you are cute...'

Rukia laughs quietly. 'I'll be fine, strawberry. Don't worry about me.' She leans up and plants a quick kiss on my lips. The moment is short, but I savour it. Her lips are soft and her sent reminds me of... strawberries. Ha ha. Guess this perfume is her idea of a joke. I'll have to compliment her about that later. If there is a later. I sure hope there will be.

'Watch and learn,' she says with a mischievous grin, and then she skips back up the path towards the door. She seems pretty confident, I'll give her that. She looks back at me, raises her eyebrows as if wondering why I'm still standing here, and then nods in the direction of a clump of bushes in the front garden, giving me a very pointed look. Feeling stupid, I crouch down behind them, hopingthat because it's night time, my vibrant orange hair will somehow blend in with the green leaves.

I hear her knocking on the door, and I wonder what excuse she'll come up with, because I've just looked at my phone to check the time and it's pretty late. People don't usually knock on the door at this hour, and I bet delirious people believing in government conspiracies don't get many people knocking on the door anyway.

'Hello?' comes a man's voice and the door cracks open ever so slightly.

'H-hello,' Rukia chokes out, and my eyes widen as I hear the catch in her voice. 'I was wondering if you c-could help m-me...' She quickly turns her head and scans the neighbourhood as if paranoid. 'I heard f-from m-my friend T-Toshiro that he was going t-to see someone ab-bout a problem, and I n-need to talk t-to you about it as well...' She lets out a small sob, sounding completely distraught. 'I-' She breaks off again with another well-timed sob. '... I'm really scared,' she finally lets out as a whimper.

I have to remind myself that she's only pretending so as to keep myself from panicking, her acting is that good.

'Oh-' The man seems flustered, as if unsure of what to do. 'Well, come inside, miss. Hitsugaya-san has just arrived. You can both tell us about it...' His voice trails away as he closes the door behind the two of them.

Great. So now what? What can I do, stuck outside? I'm about to get up and see if there any open windows around the side of the house when I recieve a text. Damn, it's probably Zangetsu. I quickly unlock the screen to have a look.

It's from Rukia.

Back garden, door 2 kitchen. I'll keep them distracted. C u soon ;)

She's full of wonders. How on earth did she manage to get away with sending a text? Anyway, I probably shouldn't just sit here. I get to my feet and creep round the left side of the house, opening a wooden door leading to the back garden. In the darkness I can just make out the statue of what I think is a miniature flying saucer. I roll my eyes. As if alien ships look anything like that.

Of course, the back door leading to the kitchen is locked. I was expecting it, but once once again now that I'm here (and without a plan), I find that this is going to be quite hard, especially since I haven't got Rukia to help me this time. I haven't exactly got a paperclip in my pocket that I can fashion into something I can use to pick locks. I kick the grass in frustration. 'Dammit...!'

I hear something snap, and my hear skips a beat as I realise what happened. 'No way...' I lean towardsthe door, peekkng through the crack, expecting to see the lock in place. It isn't there. And I know why. I turn around slowly, focusing on a small rock on the lawn. My heart now pounding, I let my mind drift and I visualise exactly what I want.

And sure enough, the rock rises off the ground. I watch it, mesmerised. It's a little shaky as if hesitant to leave the grass, but it's definitely hovering in mid air.

I remember what Zangetsu said about how strong emotions can cauce my Legacies to form. I guess thst also applies for the telekinesis I've been waiting to come for so long.

Congratulations, you unlocked some of your powers, Shiro yawns, acting bored althoughI can tell he's secretly pleased. Are you just going to stand here all night?

No. I'm ready. I turn back to the door, adrenaline coursing through me. This is it... Just as suspected, my telekinesis sure has actually unlocked the door. I push it open and arrive in a small, unclean kitchen. A pile of dirty plates and bowls are left beside the sink. I slip through it quietly until I reach the door to the rest of the house. I open this as quietly as I can and creep out into a hallway. Everything's silent. Why aren't they talking?

Four- Shiro yelps in warning, but it's already too late.

Something crashes into my skull and everything fades to black.

I should probably end it there. Sorry ;)

No offence to geeks intended. After all, I am one (especially when it comes to Doctor Who).