Look at me, updating this story not long after the last time I updated and with a very long chapter by my standards. I'm a really nice person if I do say so myself.

Allons-y~

Explanations and revelations

'Whoa.' Okay. Wasn't actually expecting a gun. Ah, shit. 'Be cool,' I say, holding up my hands instinctively. 'I'm unarmed. See?'

The first guy, the one wearing a Green Lantern t-shirt, grins, revealing his yellow teeth once more. Now that we're out of the dimly lit room I can get a better look at him. Tall, thin, with black hair and a goatee. I can also see inside the room. The t-shirt was a dead giveaway for them being comic book fans. Posters are all over the wall: Superman, Batman, Aquaman, et cetra. There's a desk similar to the one in the basement, also filled with paperwork and issues of some homemade magazine, titled 'They Walk Among Us' like the website. Beyond that, I can see Rukia and Toshiro, pressed up against the wall, fear evident on their faces.

'What have you done to them?' I hiss.

'I want information, and they weren't giving it to me,' the guy snarls. 'I was just about to deal with them properly before you arrived. How did you escape?'

'I'm Loric,' I answer. 'I can do shit like that.'

Your friends can hear you, Shiro murmurs.

What does it matter? It makes no difference, they already know too much, I think miserably.

'What's happened to Hideki?' he asks.

'Unconscious,' I reply.

'You know what?' the guy says, looking rather mad as he widens his eyes and his grin widens too. 'I just checked the paperwork. You're not Number Eight. The real Number Eight is being tailed in England. You're either Four or Six.'

'There's another one of the Loric in Japan?' I blurt out.

'The Hollows have reason to believe that, yeah,' the guy says, hand tightening a little on the gun as he points it at my chest. 'They said that if we were to catch either of you, we were to call them immediately. Just like we did with Number Two.'

'Have you already called them?' I ask.

He stops grinning and looks perfectly serious. 'They're on their way.'

I go cold. This situation is getting worse and worse. And having a gun being pointed at me is seriously not making me feel any better.

'You- you can't kill me,' I stutter. 'The Hollows want the pleasure of doing that.'

'They won't mind too much if you're Number Six,' the guy says. 'After all, if you are Six and they try to kill you, they'll end up killing themselves. They told us about that. If you kill a Loric who's not next in line for death, then whatever you do to them will happen to you instead. Luckily, that only works for the Hollows, 'cause I sure as hell don't want a bullet in my chest.'

'You still don't know what number I am,' I say.

'Ideally, I'd prefer not to kill you anyway,' the guy continues. 'Just cooperate and we won't need any trouble.'

'Right, 'cause I'm really going to agree to getting murdered,' I retort sarcastically.

'At least tell us which number you really are.'

'Fine,' I mutter. 'I'm Ichigo Kurosaki. I am Number Four.'

'So you are next in line.' The guy smiles. 'Well, I guess this is your unlucky day.'

'You won't shoot me,' I say, trying to appear confident. 'You know the Hollows will kill you if they find out you killed me and they didn't get the pleasure.'

'Yeah, you're right,' the guy says. I move further into the room, keeping my eyes locked of his brown eyes. He watches me move around him, until I finally reach the corner where Rukia and Toshiro are standing. 'But I can kill her,' the guy continues, aiming now directly at Rukia's chest.

I'm so angry I begin to see red. 'Don't you dare touch her,' I hiss, moving to stand in front of Rukia. I quickly take my eyes off the man to look down at Rukia and Toshiro. They look back up at me, completely terrified. 'I'll get us out of this,' I whisper to them.

Rukia suddenly looks set. She steps out from behind me and begins to approach the guy. 'What the hell is wrong with you?' she demands, suddenly not seeming afraid. 'You better start explaining what the hell's going on right now.'

The guy laughs. 'I'm the one with the gun, sweetie.'

'Yeah, and I'm the one who's going to kick your ass to hell and back if you don't tell us everything,' Rukia snaps back.

'Rukia, get out of the way,' I murmur. 'He'll shoot you.'

Rukia looks defiant. 'He wouldn't dare-'

A huge bang sounds from the gun.

'NO!' I scream.

Lately I've started noticing a development in my powers. I start to see colours in my mind when I look at humans, almost like I've got synaesthesia. Blues in many different shades swirl around in my mind, and when I look at Rangiku I get the vision of orange. I think that's because she's Loric. I wonder whether this is a Legacy. Well, I'm not in exactly in any position to ask Rangiku, considering she shuns everything Loric related.

Tatsuki has a sort of dark blue, calm sometimes but choppy when she gets angry with kids at school, something that reminds me completely of the sea. Nel's colour is more of a light purple, friendly and kind. I've become very familiar with both their shades, and I know that mine is more of a dark orange, almost red, kind of like my hair colour.

Nel and I walk to school right now, just like we've been doing every morning since she arrived at the convent. Fluttering around us, occasionally stopping to land on Nel's shoulder, is little Nozomi. Nel was right about Nozomi being a strange bird, and I'm glad that the little feathered creature has taken a liking to me.

'How are you liking your school?' I ask. Because I'm quite a bit older than her, I go to the bigger high school next to hers.

'It's okay,' Nel says, smiling as Nozomi lands on her shoulder for about the fourth time since we left the convent earlier on. 'Our señora is quite strict, but she hasn't shouted at me yet, so I like her.'

'Where exactly does Nozomi go while you're in classes?'

'She just stays outside, and she flies down to me at break times. She's a good pet.'

'She is,' I agree, wondering how an animal can be so well-behaved and doesn't just fly off to freedom.

'Hey, Hime!' Tatsuki calls, appearing from a path to the right joining onto the road Nel and I are walking down.

'Hello, Tatsuki,' I say cheerfully. This life I'm leading feels so human, and I like it. I know of my duties to Lorien, but in the meantime, this is the way I'm happy to go about life.

'Hi, Nel,' Tatsuki says, smiling down at the little child.

'Hi, Tatsuki,' Nel replies. The two of them strike conversation I let my mind stray. This ability to see colours when looking at people must be a Legacy. I'm guessing humans generally have blue as their colour, and maybe purples here and there like with Nel. We Loric must have reds and oranges, so I wonder what the colour of Hollows are.

I guess right now is the time to find out.

Because coming up ahead of me is a new source of colours I've never seen belonging to anyone else before. This one is black, with very dark reds, a sort of crimson shade, and a dark shade of green thrown in there to. I stop in my tracks, staring at the person these colours are coming from.

It's a young man, not that much older than me. He's very pale and has black hair, some strands just reaching his shoulders. I am immediately thrown into a flashback. Rangiku and I are running through the burning streets of Lorien. All around us, people are screaming and running around, desperately trying to escape the slaughter. At the end of the street I can see another figure, deathly pale and with dark shadows under his merciless eyes-

I snap out of the flashback, my breath coming out in a gasp. Tatsuki looks at me curiously but I do not take my eyes off the figure. Nel moves a little closer towards me, also staring at the figure as if she's scared of him. I can understand that. He's too far away for me to see his eye colour, but I can see they're quite big and very dark, and I can also see the unmistakable shadows under his eyes.

It's a Hollow.

Oh no. Please no…

God, I freaking love Telekinesis.

My hand is held out as if to stop the bullet, but it doesn't matter. My powers hold the bullet in mid air, just inches away from Rukia's body. She's frozen, as if in shock. Behind me, I hear Toshiro gasp.

The man looks terrified. He quickly fires another shot, and I lift up my other arm to stop the second bullet. Rukia turns to look at me, an expression of complete surprise on her face. I sigh.

'Yeah. This is the stuff I don't mention,' I say with a shrug, letting the bullets drop to the floor. With another quick movement of telekinesis, I wrench the gun for his grasp and bring it over to me. I hand it to Toshiro to look after, and I whisper, 'Just don't point that thing at me. I'm not the enemy here.' He nods, not saying anything, and points it at the guy instead. I walk over to the desk to examine the contents on it.

'What is this stuff?' I ask the guy.

'Just notes,' he answers, hyperventilating a little. 'I just scribbled down whatever the Hollows said… Oh God, please don't kill me.'

'We're not going to kill you unless we have to,' I reply. 'What's the camcorder got on it?' I ask, holding up a small black machine that looks a little out of date.

'Footage from when we captured Number Two,' he answers. 'We interrogated her. Just take it. I don't want any trouble.'

'We're all already in trouble,' I snap. 'You've called the Hollows, moron.' I pick up the camcorder and switch it on. There's only one thing in the library on it. I click on it and it begins to play.

A small pink-haired girl sits on the same chair they put me on in the exact same room they put me in, also tied to the chair. The child is about seven or eight years old, and she looks really confused.

'Just answer the questions,' comes the man's voice, the quality crackly and distorted. He must be operating the camera. 'What number are you, Yachiru?'

'Where's Kenny?' Number Two asks, her voice sounding small and so very, very young.

'Are you Number Two?'

'Kenny told me I was two. I thought I was eight.'

'No, I don't mean your age. Is your Loric Number Two?' The guy seems exasperated with Yachiru's immaturity.

'I… I think so. Where's Kenny?' Two repeats.

'He's been dealt with,' the guy says roughly. 'Do you know what's going to happen to you now, Yachiru?'

Two's silent for a minute, then she says, 'The monsters are coming for me. Kenny said I would always have to run away from them, and if they got too close he said he would fight them off. Are the monsters coming to get me?'

'Yes. Yes, they are.'

Two looks frightened. 'What are the monsters gonna do to me? Are they going to do to me what they did to One?'

'I would imagine so, yes,' the guy says calmly.

Two looks down and lets out a little sob. 'I don't wanna die. Kenny said he wouldn't let them get me.'

'We're… we're sorry, Yachiru.' The guy really sounds regretful.

'Can I see Kenny?'

'No. I'm sorry about that. You won't be seeing each other again.'

'Can you let me go? I don't want the monsters to get me.'

'I'm sorry, Number Two.'

I switch the camcorder off, and it falls to my feet, breaking on the ground.

Rukia looks disgusted. 'You bastard,' she hisses at the guy. 'I don't know what the hell's going on, but that was just sick. You sick, twisted son of a-'

'We had no choice!' the guy yells. 'They'll kill us if we don't hand Four over. They were going to kill us if they found out we had released Two, so we had to give her to them. They want all the Loric dead.'

'I don't know what you mean by all these numbers,' Toshiro finally speaks up, 'but handing children over to be murdered… what the hell is this? Rukia's right, you're completely sick.'

'Don't worry, guys,' I say, speaking as loudly as possible to show how determined I am. 'When we walk out of here, I'll explain everything.'

The man looks horrified. 'You can't leave. They'll kill us. Oh God-' He breaks out into hysterical sobs. 'We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die…'

My vision goes dark for a minute as the fury takes over. 'Tough luck,' I say in a voice that doesn't sound like my own. I bend down to pick up the smashed camcorder. I don't want to, but I know I'm going to have to Zangetsu about this. I'll have to create some sort of negotiation so that we won't have to leave Karakura. I take papers off the desk, anything that I think might be useful.

'How could you do that to that little girl?' Rukia growls at the man once he has calmed down a little.

'She was… she was like him,' he replies, jerking his head in my direction. 'They're dangerous. They could kill us all.'

'Shut up,' I snap at him. 'Why the hell would I want to kill any of you?'

'You're condemning Hideki and me,' he points out in a whimper, and I notice a dark stain appearing on his crotch.

The darkness engulfs my vision again and I coldly say, 'Not my problem.' I shake my head a little once the words have come out my mouth. I'm starting to sound a little evil, and I have no idea why. 'If you want to live, then maybe you should run too,' I try again.

'They'll find us-'

'Serves you right. It's your fault Number Two and her Cêpan are dead,' I snarl, the black still covering my eyes to make everything seem dim. I shake my head again. Maybe I'm just tired. Yeah. That must be it. 'If life is so important to you, then why did you destroy theirs?' I demand, tragedy washing over me like a river. Yachiru, Number Two, was only eight years old. She didn't even understand why the Hollows wanted her dead. She didn't understand why she and her Cêpan had to keep running.

'Come on, Rukia, Toshiro,' I say finally. 'We're leaving.' They nod, both looking angrily at the guy.

The first ten minutes of the train journey back are sat in silence, since we're all kind of in shock. I can't stop thinking about Two and how her life ended. If I had been her age, that could have easily been me. Hell, if we'd stayed any longer at the house it might have been me.

I'm scared about what Toshiro and Rukia are going to say. After all that, they'll probably want nothing more to do with me. I can understand that. Both of them have families that they'll probably be permanently worrying about now. Not very big families, granted, but there's Toshiro's elderly grandmother who spends most of her time at the hospital and there's Rukia's big sister. This could easily have scarred my two best friends. They sit on either side of me, staring out the window. And yet, as I look down I notice that Rukia is clutching my hand. Not in the I'm-scared way, but in the I'm-going-to-stay-here-and-comfort-you-because-I-know-you're-upset way.

'You ready to talk yet?' Rukia asks me quietly, and Toshiro leans in closer.

'Yeah,' I mutter. 'But you've got to promise that you'll believe everything I tell you.'

'Ichigo, we just witnessed you stop bullets in midair with your mind,' Toshiro points out. 'And earlier on I saw you using your hands like torches. I'm starting to believe in the supernatural, alright.'

Rukia nods in agreement, though she looks a little confused. 'What do you mean you used your hands as torches?'

I look around. We're the only three people in the carriage because it's gone midnight, and I can't see any security cameras anywhere. 'Like this,' I begin, forcing my Lumen to switch on. I focus on not making the lights too bright, but light enough to make my point. Toshiro and Rukia look down at them in wonder.

'How do you do that?' Toshiro asks, and if I didn't know any better I'd say he sounds a little envious.

'Sorry, man. Humans can't do it,' I say with a forced smile.

'So you're saying you're not human,' Rukia says quietly.

'No. I'm Loric,' I explain. 'Just like Number Two.'

'And that's a Legacy, isn't it?' Rukia murmurs.

I stare at her. 'How do you know that?'

'I-' Rukia shrugs. 'Those guys mentioned it.'

'What do you mean by 'Loric'?' Toshiro questions.

'I'm an alien,' I say, waiting for some sort of screaming reaction from either of them. Widened eyes are all I get. 'Earth isn't the only life sustaining planet,' I continue, praying they'll believe me. 'There's Lorien, and there's Mogadore.' I go on to tell them about how the Hollows destroyed my planet and how only a select few survived. I also explain about the Garde and the Cêpans, and the differences between them.

'Sure. My boyfriend's an alien,' Rukia says calmly once I'm wrapped up the history lesson. 'Continue.'

'What do they mean by the numbers?' Toshiro asks.

I'm amazed. They're actually taking what I say seriously? 'Well, before we left Lorien, the Elders put this special charm on us. We can only be killed in order, and we've all been given numbers so we know when it's our turn.'

'But… that means that One and Two are dead, right?' Rukia asks. She looks deep in thought about something, as if she's not really with us anymore.

'And Three,' I confirm sadly. 'I'm Number Four, so it's my turn next.'

'They're looking for you now?' Toshiro says, bewildered.

'Yep,' I say. 'Pretty unlucky, huh?'

'But why do the Hollows want you dead so badly?' Toshiro asks.

'You're a threat to them, right?' Rukia guesses. I nod.

She's smart, Shiro says, sounding suspicious.

She's not a Hollow, Shiro, I reply, exasperated.

But she's getting a lot of these guesses right, isn't she?

You heard what she said. She overheard them talking.

Right… Shiro sounds unsure.

'And these Legacies,' Rukia continues, 'are like special powers that you have, right?'

'Yeah,' I reply. 'When Garde come to a certain age, they begin developing them. They appear in order of how powerful they are, with my first one being the weakest and my final one being the strongest.'

'How many have you got?' Toshiro asks, looking a little excited.

'Just three so far,' I reply. 'Lumen, Telekinesis and the ability to sense the spirit energy of those around me. All Garde can sense spirit energy sooner or later and they all develop the ability to move things with their mind shortly after their first Legacy appears. Zangetsu reckons I'm a bit of a late developer because my Telekinesis took a while to arrive. I only just got it tonight.'

'Mind officially blown,' Toshiro murmurs. 'Holy crap- aliens do actually exist. Do you think the government knows about this?'

'Zangetsu and I have had suspicions recently that the US government might be working with the Hollows, probably under threat. We know for a fact that Number Nine is in America, and he's currently being hunted down by the Hollows in New York.'

'Why don't you go looking for him?' Toshiro asks.

'There's that charm thing,' Rukia reminds him. She turns to look at me. 'You said that you can only be killed in order, and if two Loric meet then the Charm is broken and you can be killed in any order.'

'Exactly,' I say. 'So the plan is for us all to get stronger and develop our Legacies, and then we need to go and find each other.'

'So you have to keep moving and changing your identity?' Toshiro says.

'Yep. My life in a nutshell,' I sigh. 'You both probably already know how important it is not to tell anyone about this, right?'

They nod vigorously.

'How did you know where to find me?' Toshiro asks after a while. 'I mean, I didn't really leave many clues behind as to where I was going.'

'Except on your internet history,' I explain. 'I went on to the websites you were checking out to find out what you were going to do.'

He frowns. 'But those websites where password protected. Do you have some special power that enables you to hack on to whatever you like?'

I smile. 'Nope. The simple matter is, it's not always wise to use the same password for every website you log on to. Also not great to make it personal. 'momo10' is not a secure password.'

Rukia snorts with laughter and immediately tries to cover it with her hand, and Toshiro blushes a deep scarlet. 'Talking of Momo,' I continue, 'you can't even tell her about this, okay?'

'Yeah,' Toshiro splutters. 'Fine. Anything else we should know?'

'Yeah,' I say thoughtfully. 'I'm schizophrenic.'

They stare at me.

'It's only one voice, and he's kind of like a pale copy of me. He's called Shiro.'

'… This is to do with your powers, right?' Rukia asks.

'Yeah, Shiro's supposed to be my final Legacy, so basically the most powerful one. He says hi.'

No I don't! Shiro complains.

Don't be so childish.

You started it!

'What's he able to do?' Toshiro asks.

'I'm not really sure. I haven't developed my final Legacy yet, but I will do someday, as long as I stay alive.'

Rukia takes a deep breath, looking really thoughtful. 'Whoa. This is a lot to take in.'

'Are Rukia and I in danger now?' Toshiro asks. 'Will we have to stay hidden because we know too much?'

'That's kind of based on whether those two guys escape and if they do, whether they'll tell the Hollows about the two of you.' I sigh. 'I'm sorry, guys. I shouldn't have dragged you into this.'

'No. It's my fault,' Toshiro says stubbornly. 'I shouldn't have gone to see them. This is all because of me. I've got to make it up to you somehow.'

'It's fine,' I wave him off. 'I would have done the same thing.'

'Are the Loric known for having human allies?' Toshiro asks.

'What? Oh, uh, I don't know. When we first arrived on the planet, I remember there a group of humans that gave us envelopes with cash and instructions inside informing us of what we should do and how we should adapt to human life.'

'Well, could we- I mean I help?' Toshiro questions.

Rukia smiles. ''We' is fine. I want to help too.'

'But what can you do? I mean, Zangetsu and I always have to keep moving. And once we're gone, I'll probably never see you guys again. Oh crap- Zangetsu!' I quickly remember the missed calls and I pull my phone out, ready to make up whatever excuse comes to mind.

'Where have you been?' Zangetsu says frostily the minute he answers the phone. 'I've been worried sick.'

'I've been asleep,' I retort. 'I told you, I'm staying at Rukia's house.'

'And what exactly are you doing there?' Zangetsu says, sounding suspicious.

'Just sleeping over,' I mutter.

'You realise, the entire Loric race and possibly the fate of Earth too rests on the shoulders of you and the other Garde. Messing around is not a good idea.'

'What do you mean?' I ask.

'I just hope you're using protection,' he mutters.

I choke. 'No! I mean, that's not what's happening, I swear-'

He sounds a little kinder now. 'Just answer the phone in future, okay?'

I nod, my face feeling very hot, then I remember he can't see me nodding so I say, 'Yeah. Will do.'

'What were you talking about?' Rukia asks, smirking as I finish the call.

'Not important,' I answer, wishing they couldn't see me blushing.

'I don't think we want to know, anyway,' Toshiro puts in, and Rukia laughs.

'So what now?' she asks. 'I sent Shirayuki a text saying that I'm staying at Momo's house, so I can't go home. But I can't go to Momo's either, there'll be too many questions.'

'I can't go home either,' I add.

Toshiro clicks his fingers. 'Simple. Grandma's in the hospital right now, so if you guys come back to my house with me, it'll just be the three of us.'

'Fine with me,' Rukia says.

'Sounds like a plan,' I agree.

Terrified, my eyes stay fixed on him. He stares back at me, unblinking. He knows it's me. He knows I'm Loric. He knows I'm a target. I stifle a sob, my throat catching. I'm going to die… I'm going to die…

There's the Charm, I remember suddenly. Yes. That means I can't die yet. But that still doesn't change the fact that there's a Hollow here where I live, and he's found me.

'Hime? Nel? What's wrong?'

I look down at Nel. She's obviously scared of the man because of his appearance. He looks dead, he's so pale.

Nozomi squawks in distress and flutters up into the tree above.

I think fast. I can't cause a scene. Nel's young, so I can easily get away with saying that she's looking scared too because she's sensed my discomfort, which is probably true.

'It's okay,' I say quietly to Tatsuki. 'I just remembered a really scary nightmare I had last night.'

'Oh,' Tatsuki says. 'Because if I had to guess I would say you looked freaked out because that creepy dude over there is staring at you.'

I bite my lip, feeling as frightened as I did when I was little and I had to leave Lorien.

'Come on,' Tatsuki says to both of us. 'He won't try anything, and if he does I'll beat the crap outta him.'

I focus on putting my foot in front of the other, but every step is wobbly and uncoordinated. The Hollow's eyes are not taken off me as I approach him.

'Focus on looking at something else, pervert,' Tatsuki snaps at the Hollow as we walk past him. I don't dare look at him. I'm too scared of what I might see.

It's about fifteen seconds later before I can dare to look behind me to see what he's doing. He's still watching me carefully, standing exactly where he is, not moving at all.

'There. See? That was okay,' Tatsuki says to me and Nel. 'No problem.'

'Rangiku!' I shout the minute I enter the convent dining room after school to find her and the other sisters having a late lunch.

'Orihime!' one of the women, Sister Lucia, scolds. 'It is rude to just burst in like that!'

'I'm sorry!' I gasp. 'I just need to speak with Sister Rangiku.' I should always use her correct title in front of the other sisters.

'Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait,' Sister Natalia says disapprovingly.

'It's urgent,' I try.

'If it's so important then maybe we should all hear it,' another sister says.

I quietly whimper, jumping restlessly from one foot to the other as if I need the toilet.

'Excuse me, sisters,' Rangiku says politely, rising from her seat to join me.

'This better be important, Hime,' she says once we're outside the room. 'You know there'll probably be a punishment for you interrupting like that.'

'There's a Hollow here!' I let out.

She blinks, not saying anything.

I continue, 'Lately I've been able to sense different shades of colours radiating from humans and Loric alike.'

'Spirit energy,' Rangiku says finally. 'A Legacy all Garde learn to posses.'

So it is normal. 'Anyway, I know the different colours for us and the other humans. But today I sensed completely new shades coming from this man, and he looked just like the soldiers that attacked Lorien. There's a Hollow here, Rangiku. What do we do?'

'We…' Rangiku takes a deep breath. 'We act normal.'

'But we can't,' I whine. 'He knows I'm one of the Garde. He knew it was me.'

'If you see him again, then we may have to do something,' Rangiku decides. 'Until then, I think it may be time to open your Chest.'

'The- the Chest?' I gasp. I've wondered what Rangiku has done with it over the years, and it looks if I'm finally about to find out. 'You really mean it?'

'Of course I do,' she smiles. 'No matter what happens, I am still your Cêpan.'

Review, please. I mean, I did work my butt off writing this for you guys.