Poem: "Sight Left Unseen" by Gina Wooten

Song lyrics: "Invasion" by Shiro Sagisu. Bleach DDR OST ;D

~x~

Our Hollow Brother

Chapter 2 – Wish For

~x~

"Waves of pain and anguish, Washing across the sand. Like shards of broken glass, Having already cut the hand. Love traded for comp-comp…" Yuzu faltered in her reading, struggling to pronounce the unfamiliar English word.

"Compassion." Ichigo supplied gently, nudging his petite brunette sister softly with his newly spike-less shoulder to encourage her.

Yuzu nodded thankfully and reread the line correctly before continuing. "Such a fine line between... Only good intentions meant. Heart bl-blinded, sight left unseen. Until there is realization, The hand that bleeds is yours... Heart goes on breaking as The shards cut more and more." She finished triumphantly, closing the poetry book with an accomplished snap.

"That was meaningful, if not a bit depressing." The Hollow brother noted amusedly, curling tighter around Yuzu from where he was lying on his side in their backyard. The petite girl was sitting cross-legged, leaning back against Ichigo's stomach and fenced in by her brother's tail with the Hollow's head resting just off her right elbow on his folded arms.

Yuzu nodded enthusiastically. "It had a lot of hidden meaning and people could learn something from it if they knew what it meant. Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed, opening the book again and rifling through the pages hurriedly. "There's a song in here that I thought was just like you, Ichi-nii!"

Ichigo leaned in curiously as she proudly displayed the correct page before him. It was a mere four lines but they had great impact. He read them aloud with his warbled voice. "For every man there is a cause which he would gladly die for. Defend the right to have a place for which he can belong to. And every man will fight with his bare hands in desperation. And shed his blood to stem the flood to barricade invasion." He finished with a smile behind his mask. It was like whoever wrote this song was directly talking about him because it was dead-on accurate.

The cook of the family of three (technically two) nodded to herself, her suspicion that it was just like her protective big brother confirmed when she heard the approval in his voice near the end.

"Yuzu, your favorite show is about to come on!" Karin called from inside the house, her voice drifting out to them from the living room and through the screen door.

Ichigo uncurled and stood on all fours as the little brunette resting against him jumped up excitedly. "Come on, Ichi-nii!" She cried enthusiastically, hugging the poem/lyric book to her chest as she ran to see her favorite TV show.

The Hollow chuckled a watery purr and followed more slowly. "Coming, coming." His slightly smaller form could now move through the house easier and he curled up beside the couch as his sisters watched happily from the piece of furniture. Or at least one was; Karin looked only tolerant of the show.

The mail flap clicked, signifying the arrival of the mail. Since he wasn't that far away, Ichigo just reached back with his tail and slid the mail around to the front of him. Looking uninterestedly over the two white envelopes (credit card offers, the stupid things), he was happy to see a thick orange letter envelop. He gave it to Karin as he couldn't really use his clawed hands to open the letter without shredding it.

The tomboyish twin opened it quickly, a little relief coming onto her usually deadpan face. The insurance money that their relatives sent every three months was a little late this time and it had made them all worried that they wouldn't be able to pay their bills that month.

Their closest relative lived a good thirteen hours away and that's where the letter came from after it had gathered up all the money from all-other-willing-to-pay-for-the-twin's-necessities relatives. Their aunt that lived there was their official, on paper, caretaker after Ichigo had "died" but she just sent them the money from all other relatives as her 'care', along with the letters from all family relatives.

The government had no issues with this arrangement since the twins were always healthy, well fed, were always at school, behaved themselves, and paid bills on time so the officials allowed the junior high girls to live by "themselves" without an older guardian "with" them.

Karin stood and left the room to go into the dining room where she kept the checking book and other bills. Ichigo followed to help her, leaving Yuzu alone to watch her TV show. She barely noticed their departure, she was so in tune with the program on ghosts.

"The usual three thousand?" Ichigo confirmed as he crouched beside the table as his sister sat beside him in a chair.

The black haired girl nodded and spread out several checks, all with their own certain amount, across the small table to see them all, placing the letters to the side for now. Once she (with Ichigo's help and a calculator) had made sure that it was enough to cover everything, she put the checks to the side as well to be cashed after school tomorrow. Then she pulled their blank, three-fourths empty checkbook towards her and started writing separate checks for separate bills: electricity, heating, water, etc.

She had done this for two years and didn't make a single mistake anymore, saving herself time and effort. After all the necessity bills had been taken care of, she looked over how much they had left, adding it to what was left over from the last "paycheck" from the previous months before. This would be used for buying food and new clothes and other materials in that regard.

They currently had several thousand dollars saved up in the bank that wasn't being used for any bills or food or other necessities. That was used for rare fun times and then later to get into college. Ichigo had subtly pushed them into taking care of their future early on and it had paid off and will continue to as the extra money kept stacking into the thousands.

By the time Karin and Yuzu had finished high school in four years (and if they got jobs), they would have enough cash to both get into a university even without scholarships. The twins had been shocked that their brother's persistence of squirreling away any extra cash was paying off so extremely well. At this rate, Karin and Yuzu wouldn't need any insurance checks from relatives anymore by the time they were in their second year of college.

Karin was sure that Yuzu had never thought of this, but the thought lurked in the back of the raven's mind whenever she thought of having a life- What about Ichi-nii?

Their brother was dead, tied down by the will to care for them until they no longer needed him but… what would he do after that happened? He couldn't live his own life anymore and others couldn't see him so where would he go?

The painful questions had no answers and Karin held in her sobs at night in case she worried Ichigo. It just wasn't fair that their kind, caring, smart, devoted, and protective older brother had no reason to live after the twins were grown and had their own lives.

If there was one thing that Karin could wish for, it would be that Ichi-nii had never died in that car crash protecting them from that single drunk driver that had swerved onto the sidewalk.

"Karin?"

The small raven haired twin looked up to see her Hollow brother peer closely at her, unaware of her brief, depressed space-out. His golden irises shone with affection and it made the secret knot of guilt in her stomach twist tighter. "Yeah?" She responded after swallowing to cure the tremble in her voice.

"Let's take Yuzu to the ice cream parlor, ne? You guys go on ahead and I'll catch up with you; I got a Hollow to see to first." Ichigo suggested cheerfully, nuzzling into his little sister's arm.

Karin nodded and smiled faintly, rubbing a hand over her elder sibling's unruly orange hair. Ice cream would be a perfect cure for these unnecessary thoughts, she agreed silently as she stood to retrieve her twin sister while Ichigo disappeared out the back door for another quick Hollow-disposal run.

~x~

Rukia drummed her fingers on the round wooden table she was sitting at impatiently. When was that crazy, hat-wearing shop keeper going to get his ass back here and answer her questions?.!

It was only a few simple inquiries about the seemingly residential Hollow in this town! And as the shinigami now stationed in Karakura, it would immensely help her to know all about it in case it turned out to be a real problem to the citizens of Karakura.

She tried to wait another ten minutes as patiently as she could but when still no one appeared after fifteen minutes, the raven haired shinigami slammed her hands on the table and stood abruptly, turning on her heel and stalking out of the room. Looking around while simultaneously searching for any reiatsu, she scowled when she failed to see or sense anyone in the shop, not even the two kids that worked there!

They were deliberately ignoring/avoiding her!

"Fine then! I'll just come back when I can't be ignored OR avoided!" She muttered loudly before stomping out of the shop angrily. The nerve of those people!

As soon as she was gone, a white and green striped hat covered blond head peeked out of the shop doors. Soon after came the rest of the green-wearing, wooden-sandaled body to sit comfortably on the porch, waving itself with a plain white fan even though it wasn't warm out.

A large muscled man wearing a green apron and glasses stepped out of the shop behind the owner. "How long are we going to keep avoiding her, Urahara-dono?" Tessai questioned lowly, looking in the direction Rukia had left. The sun gleamed off his glasses as he looked down at the ex-captain.

"As long as we are able to." Urahara replied cheerfully with a grin and then with a touch of seriousness. "It's the least we can do for Kurosaki-san."

~x~

Back with Rukia, the shinigami was sitting sullenly on a rooftop overlooking most of the city, her thoughts plagued by the single unusual Hollow she had met earlier that morning (it was now later afternoon).

Never had she met or heard of a Hollow that was semi-polite and had spoken so intelligently, without the blood-lust behind it. It definitely was not a normal leveled Hollow that was for certain. But what repeated itself the most in Rukia's mind was the fact that it-he had said he didn't want "them" to be involved in their business. Who were "they"? Other Hollow? Was he protecting them? Where and why? What-?

Her train of thought abruptly cut off when she heard the soft voices of two young girls approaching. Looking up and then down along the road she sat above, she saw a pair of junior high aged tweens walking slowly in her direction, about forty feet away still.

One was a brunette and wore a pretty pastel pink flowery dress while the other was black haired and was dressed tomboyish in a red baseball cap, t-shirt, and jean shorts. The blonde girl was the one leading the conversation with energetic hand motions and a cheerful voice while the other mostly nodded and only input a few words in here or there in a deadpan voice, but seemed interested in what the blonde girl was talking about.

The raved haired shinigami watched them come closer disinterestedly until, that is, she saw the same Hollow as before rushing towards the two girls. Instinctively, she shunpoed to intercept the red-plated Hollow before it could get to the two tweens, swinging her zanpakatou up sharply.

The Hollow screeched in pain when she appeared before him (the girls a few feet behind her) and almost dismembered his hand. Blood sprayed and the Hollow hissed lowly in pain, holding the wounded appendage close to his chest even as the wound quickly sealed up from his Instant Regeneration.

Rukia glared at the Hollow and started forward to attack again when her sword arm was yanked violently back. Surprised, she stumbled and then cursed when she fell hard on her butt. Looking up in startlement, she was shocked to see the black haired girl glaring right at her while the little brunette rushed past them towards the Hollow with a concerned sounding cry.

"Ichi-nii!"

~x~

"Ichi-nii!" Yuzu cried, rushing past her sister and the raven haired shinigami to concernedly reach out for her brother's arm. She was relieved to see it already healed but ran her petite hands over it repeatedly to reassure herself that Ichigo wasn't hurt.

The Hollow rumbled reassuringly in his chest and coiled a strong arm around her middle, drawing her closer for protection as his tail gently did the same for Karin. Pulling both sisters against his chest, he directed his yellow-eyed glare at the shocked shinigami woman. "I told you to leave us alone." He hissed in a menacingly echoing voice.

Before the raven-haired shinigami could even hope to reply, the three siblings vanished from sight in a static buzz of sonido. Rukia blinked spastically in their absence, not even attempting to stand again as her mind whirled at the sudden answers to her earlier question of "they".

In a park a small distance away, Ichigo reappeared and steadied his siblings who were dizzy from the sonido. Apologizing softly, the Hollow washed his reiatsu over them, ridding the two girls of the final feelings of nausea. Yuzu resumed her fretful checking over her brother and Ichigo allowed her to, knowing nothing else would satisfy her, as he and Karin shared a meaningful, but grim glance.

That shinigami had to go.

~x~

Ishida Uryuu blatantly ignored the solid presence of a strong leveled Hollow in the park a few blocks away from where he was walking back to his apartment from his visit to the sewing and craft store, altering his path slightly to instead of going home, he headed to where he felt another spiritual presence.

He paused for a moment, pushing his rectangular glasses back up further on his nose, waiting. A few seconds later, as expected, the Hollow reiatsu all but vanished again and he continued walking along his diverted path, new destination in mind.

As he walked, he recalled why a Quincy like himself hadn't immediately shot an arrow to kill the beast by the memory of an interesting man who owned a shop's warning...

~x~

Flashback – One Year Ago...

~x~

Uryuu looked to his left at the sudden reiatsu spike of an above average Hollow that was nearby. Calmly turning down the side street, a few minutes of steady walking brought him to the river bank and his heart skipped for a fraction of a second when he saw two young girls standing dangerously close to where an unusually smaller sized white, red, and orange colored Hollow was pacing restlessly.

Not understanding why it hadn't attacked yet but deciding to not give it the chance to, Uryuu discreetly summoned his bow, took careful aim, and-

His bow's spiritual particles dissipated.

He blinked once in confusion then again in alarm when he heard a soft chuckle behind him. Whirling, he confronted a green clad man with blonde hair peeking out from under a green and white striped bucket hat and feet clad in wooden sandals and wielding a plain brown cane. The man grinned irritatingly, a smoothly humming small black device held in his free hand that Uryuu deduced and then felt was the thing keeping him from collecting spirit particles to make a bow or arrow.

Turning fully to face this mysterious newcomer, the navy haired teen gave the man another once over, gouging his strength and abilities through his keep perception of reishi (spirit particles). His dark eyes widened in shock at what he found.

The man's reiatsu was massive, but almost completely hidden and Uryuu believed he was only allowed to sense and realize this because as soon as he did, the reiatsu totally vanished and even he couldn't sense it anymore as the man turned off the device and tucked it away in an unseen pocket.

For one of the few times in his life, he was unnerved and knew he would be at a huge disadvantage if the man, which he knew now to be a shinigami, decided to harm him. The knowledge that he would almost effortlessly be defeated if he so did try to act annoyed him but wisdom won out over his pride.

"Ishida Uryuu, the son of the Last Quincy which also gives you the title, yes?" The green clad man asked knowingly, waving a white fan at the student from where Uryuu was unable to determine where it had been pulled from. It had either always been there of the stranger's speed was faster than his eyes could follow.

Uryuu felt even more uneasy when he doubted it was the former option. Deciding to be wisely cooperative, the Quincy responded politely. "Yes, I am, and if I may ask, who are you?"

"You may." The hat covered blonde haired head bobbed happily as the odd shinigami hid his grinning features behind that plainly obnoxious white fan.

Uryuu's brow twitched at the playful demeanor but clarified his question. "What is your name?" He questioned, acutely aware that the Hollow and two children behind him were now conscious of his presence.

The man twirled his brown hooked cane in approval. "The name is Urahara Kisuke, a mere shopkeeper of the shoten (shop) a few blocks down." The self-introduced shop owner sidled up to Uryuu with surprising abrupt speed. "Here, have a coupon for 15% off your next purchase! It expires tomorrow so come by soon~!"

Uryuu sweatdropped at the lunacy of the sudden offering and politely declined the "kind" offer. He whirled when he heard a warbled snort behind him and jumped back in alarm when he just about came face-to-face with the toothy mask of the Hollow.

"That's just like you, Urahara-san." The orange haired Hollow chuckled, surprising Uryuu with its intelligent words and friendly tone. "Always trying to con someone somewhere all the time."

Urahara whined as though he had been kicked in a very sensitive place. "I do not~! You are so mean~ Kurosaki-saaaaan~!" The man tapped his white fan on the Hollow's mask only to squeal and yank it back protectively when the Hollow snapped his teeth at it.

Uryuu blinked. "Kurosaki...?" He repeated in astonishment. 'It can't be, Kurosaki Ichigo died in that accident last year...' His thought trailed off when the Hollow swung its head around to face him, its orange hair falling around its broad, spiked shoulders.

"Hey Ishida." Ichigo greeted in a slightly saddened tone. "I never thought that we would officially meet this way, huh?" The former human teenager murmured in his new echoing voice.

Uryuu felt as if he was in a paradox. That was Kurosaki's voice under that warbling sound; that was Kurosaki's tone, always sounding guilty over something; and that was Kurosaki's look in those gold on black eyes. But Kurosaki was dead; had been for over a year and a half now. What... What had happened for him to become an intelligent, non-bloodthirsty Hollow?

Ichigo chuckled lowly, as if he knew what the navy haired teen had been thinking. "I know you better, Ishida. You know that I would never leave my sisters alone after we lost mom and dad."

As if summoned by the mention of them, a teary eyed Yuzu and a weary looking Karin stepped up beside Ichigo's head. The Hollow turned brother crouched down lower on all fours and the two sisters hugged him around his neck.

Ichigo turned baleful eyes upon Uryuu and Urahara. "I just told them what happened to mom and dad here." The Hollow explained somberly, sounding hoarse as one would be who was trying hard not to cry as well. "This was the best and only way I could stay with and protect them."

Uryuu struggled to compose himself and pushed up his glasses habitually, the fading light reflecting off their square surfaces. "I... understand." He said quietly, accepting his "deceased" classmate's words and silently pledging his support and, daresay, friendship. Ichigo would never harm anything without a good purpose so Uryuu felt no fear in leaving him to his own devices. After all, he knew Kurosaki to have the strongest iron wills in existence, and no Hollowification could change his devotion to his family.

Ichigo's eyes became slightly glassy and two intensely grateful words were whispered that had Uryuu feeling modestly embarrassed. Turning his shaggy head towards the abnormally quiet Urahara, Ichigo nodded in an unspoken understanding with the shopkeeper before he picked up his two sisters and walked away silently, undoubtedly taking the two mentally exhausted twins home.

Uryuu and Urahara watched them go silently before facing each other once more. The shopkeeper lifted his hat a little so the other could see his eyes better and smiled a genuine uplifting of the lips. "Come, it is becoming chilly out. I have tea at my shop." The man turned and led the way back to the main street and, without a word, Uryuu followed.

~x~

End of flashback – Present time

~x~

The Quincy turned another street corner, craft bag in hand, and stared down upon the shocked shinigami woman that still sat on the ground. Walking up to her calmly and silently, Uryuu stopped right before her, making her look up. "Shinigami." He greeted coldly, drawing his materialized bowstring.

He would stay true to his promise.

~x~

2 years ago...

~x~

"Oi!" A black haired girl shouted angrily, jumping backwards when a passing car swerved too close to the sidewalk where she and her dark orange haired friend were walking safely. "Watch where you're going asshole!" Tatsuki scowled, oddly reminiscent of another orange headed classmate, glaring after the car speeding away, swerving dangerously still.

"Tatski-chan," Orihime soothed, taking her tomboyish friend's hand and tugging gently. "It's alright, the police will get him." She assured, smiling optimistically. Tatsuki snorted in mild disbelief but allowed her friend to gently pull her along.

The warm afternoon's previous calm was shattered a second later with a loud screeching of tires and twin screams of fear. Tatsuki and Orihime froze, looking ahead a number of blocks to see the same car as earlier trying to back up off the sidewalk, revealing a downed figure before more people swarmed in with loud, fearful voices and blocked the view. Someone had stopped the would-be hit-and-run car and had dragged the man from his vehicle, restraining him to the ground as people yelled to call an ambulance, cell phones popping up through the crowd.

Shaken, Orihime stepped closer to her friend and protector as Tatsuki looked surprised, angry, and then saddened at what had just obviously occurred. "Tatski-chan," The bustier girl of the two murmured shakily. "Someone... someone was just..." She trailed off, unable to continue.

"Don't worry Hime." Tatsuki soothed with a comforting touch to her friend's shoulder. "They've already caught the guy and an ambulance is on its way." True to her words, she heard the high pitched siren of the medical vehicle before it rounded the curb and pulled to an abrupt stop, the team inside instantly scrambling out and rushing through the crowd to get to the struck person. The crowd backed up further, and Tatsuki felt as if she had just died when the person on the ground could be seen more clearly.

"Ich-Ichigo...?.!"

There, lying awfully still and bent at a wrong angle, lay her childhood friend, Kurosaki Ichigo. There was no way she could ever mistake that hair for someone else.

Rushing forwards, only dimly hearing Orihime's cry of concern, a mantra of three words repeated themselves in Tatsuki's head. 'It can't be, it can't be, it can't be.' Dashing up the sidewalk towards where the police had just arrived and were managing the crowd, all the while the athletic girl was praying that it wasn't what she thought it was. Elbowing her way through the crowd once she got close enough, her dash was halted by an officer's restraining arm around her midriff but she'd gotten close enough to unfortunately confirm her fears.

Ichigo's dulling brown eyes stared lifelessly back up at her from where he'd been positioned by the medical crew desperately trying to revive his prone form. Two of his limbs, his left leg and arm, were bent wrongly; blood darkening his clothes in several areas and a horrid raw scrape covered the whole left side of his face. It was obvious from what side he'd been hit by the car.

Choking, Tatsuki turned her face away, squeezing her eyes shut as almost foreign tears blurred her vision and threatened to spill over as her stomach churned with nausea and raw grief. 'Oh my god... he's-!' She stopped herself, refusing to think of the word, denying reality. Soft sobs and shaky words of comfort drew her attention and she raised her head towards where the sound was coming from. Her heart sank at the sight before her.

Ichigo's younger twin sisters were huddled against the building, facing away from where their brother was lying limp beneath the pair of hands belonging to the ambulance crew member trying to give him CPR. They were clinging to each other, heads down and avoiding the sight of their older sibling and barely a scrape on them.

"Yuzu! Karin!" She called out to them desperately, elbowing the officer in the ribs to get under his arm and rush to them. She dimly heard the caught up Orihime also call to her but ignored her best friend for the first time in her life to instead fall next to the two sobbing girls and catch them when they threw themselves into her arms. "Shh, shh, i-its okay..." She soothed shakily, not even believing her own words as she comforted her old friend's distraught sisters.

"H-he pushed us away, Tatsuki!" Karin sobbed into the older black haired girl's shirt, breathing in ragged breaths through her grief. "He s-saw the car coming and he pushed us out of the way j-just as it-it h-hit him!" She wailed out tearfully as Yuzu also sobbed harder beside her, nodding along with her sister's words.

Tatsuki believed every word she said with a heavy heart. Of course Ichigo would sacrifice himself without a second thought to protect his sisters. Movement stilled behind her, two barely audible words spoken behind her that she could hardly hear made her bow her head and sob with the twin sisters.

"He's gone."

4 days later...

"You're missing it you bastard." Tatsuki smirked mirthlessly to herself. "I'm for once in my life, wearing a damn dress, and you're not even here to tease me about it so that I can kick your ass." She spoke the harsh words softly to the faceless cool marble headstone, the only imperfection in its smooth surface was the engraving on the stone, bearing the words, Here lies Kurosaki Ichigo; a loving, protective older brother and beloved son. July 15, 1995 to July 2, 2008.

Tatsuki almost snorted at the ironic dates. He was 13 days away from his birthday; he was 13 years old when he died. He had so much more to live for... But some drunken idiot now on trial for DUI and manslaughter had all ended it for him.

The black haired girl sighed, hanging her head and dimly taking in that she in fact was indeed wearing a formal black dress, a flowery umbrella that she'd borrowed from Orihime clenched in one hand. The forecast had predicted rain, and thick storm clouds rolled by overhead. Another stupidly ironic thing; Ichigo hated the rain. Ever since it reminded him of the night when he'd lost both his parents.

Orihime had left with most of the other mourners, having not known Ichigo at all except through stories Tatsuki had told her, so she'd felt wrong to stay when only the family and closest friends had stayed to pay their last respects to their deceased loved one. Only Karin, Yuzu, Tatsuki, and Ichigo's right hand man, Sado Yasutora (better known to everyone by Ichigo's nickname, Chad), and an aunt of the Kurosaki family who was now officially Yuzu's and Karin's benefactor stayed.

The aunt gave Tatsuki an affronted look for her cursing but said nothing on it and allowed both Yuzu and Karin to walk to Tatsuki, giving watery smiles as they came and hugged themselves to her waist. The karate fanatic hugged the two nine year olds tightly to her. They were too young to have suffered such tragedies of losing both their parents a mere year ago, and now also lose their brother a few days ago. It just wasn't fair.

Sniffling, the twins went back to kneeling before their family grave, Tatsuki and Chad sharing a quiet look before turning and leaving. They both silently understood that now was the time to leave the two siblings to their final goodbyes. Looking back once, she saw the aunt a few steps back watching silently while Yuzu and Karin were looking upwards slightly to the side, looking as if they were listening to someone taller than them but kneeling beside them, but there was nothing there but air and the next grave.

Brushing it off, Tatsuki caught and squeezed Chad's large hand, offering her loyal friendship to the silent giant, receiving a returning squeeze accepting and promising her the same. The pair stopped at the bottom of the hill, where Orihime instantly caught Tatsuki in a hug, murmuring her condolences once more. They'd get through this.

~x~

Present day

~x~

That had been two years ago. Yuzu and Karin are both eleven now, and while Ichigo is technically still thirteen, his sisters still counted his birthdays so he was now fifteen. Tatsuki smirked when she remembered how flustered Hollow's actions had been when he'd come home from another Hollow hunt to find banners and balloons scattered amongst the house. Never would she have thought to see something as terrifying as her friend's Hollow form embarrassed and she never stopped finding it amusing.

About a year after Ichigo had "died", Tatsuki had begun seeing spirits like Ichigo had, as well as the Hollows that hunted them. She'd even been saved by one by Ichigo himself; the first time she'd seen him as a Hollow. He'd told her everything then, and apologized for her having to go through his death but he'd had no way to communicate with her since she couldn't see spirits back then. Tatsuki had been in shock, not believing that a monster like that was actually him, until she'd heard Ichigo's voice teasingly say that she'd actually looked like a girl in the dress she'd worn to the funeral.

The dark eyed girl chuckled at remembering how she'd snapped out of her daze and barked retaliatory at him, the two getting into a playfully heated argument just like always right there in the park despite Ichigo's new fearsome appearance, passer-bys giving Tatsuki the strangest looks for shouting curses at thin air for no reason.

Soon after, Chad and Orihime had come to her, confessing to also having seeing spirits and Hollows and she in turn had confided in Ichigo, asking if he would allow her to tell their other friends about him. He'd more than just said yes, he'd come with her to tell them. Chad had been surprised but had altogether been happy to have his best friend back, no matter how he now looked. Orihime had been another thing. She ashamedly admitted that Ichigo's appearance scared her but didn't mind being near him, just as long as she didn't look at him directly often. Tatsuki was mildly affronted and upset with her friend, but Ichigo had assured her that he understood and didn't blame her, especially since he had only recently stopped Orihime's own older brother-turned-Hollow from killing her.

Almost at the two-year marker of Ichigo's "death", all three of them had discovered they had new abilities formulated from Ichigo's presence and his massive reiatsu. Chad developed the ability to transform his right arm into a red and black, Hollow-like weapon that could fire off blasts of pure energy. Orihime had her Shun Shun Rika; a group of six fairy like entities that in special groups could do amazing things. Tatsuki didn't know what specialty she developed, but she had the clearest sight of reiatsu among them also with her ability to focus it around her body to make her kicks and punches more powerful. (similar to Yourichi's shunko)

Together, they helped Ichigo protect his sisters from other Hollows when they had the chance. Ichigo insisted that he would do it all when they were at school or asleep and the only times they ever needed to do so was when they were in the immediate area and could get to it faster than him or if he was needed with his sisters. Ishida Uryuu, they later learned after seeing an interesting experience between him and Ichigo, also occasionally helped them, even going so far as to speak to them rarely at school.

Currently, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Chad were walking side-by-side down the sidewalk; following Tatsuki's perception of Ishida's reiatsu and the shinigami's that the Quincy's was focused on. They were a good few blocks away still, and they doubted that their assistance was needed, but if this new shinigami proved to be more of a bother, than she would have to go. No one would disrupt the peace Ichigo had assured for himself and his family, not even a so called death god.

Meanwhile...

Rukia gawked up at the navy haired teen, one that had used spirit particles around them to materialize a blue bow that had the drawstring pulled back and an arrow made, ready to fire and run her through at any second.

'A Quincy? I thought they were extinct! What's one doing in this town? What the hell's wrong with this town for all this to be happening in one goddamned place?.!' She thought furiously, hesitating in moving from her place because she was unsure if she could move fast enough to avoid the cold eyed archer's sure to be accurate aim. Deciding to risk it another way, she cleared her throat softly.

Uryuu's eyes never wavered, neither did his stance which prompted her to continue nervously.

"You're a Quincy." She stated, immediately feeling ignorant afterwards for stating such an obviously obvious thing, but plowed onwards before Uryuu had a chance to speak, though it didn't look like he was going to anyways. "Why are you here?" She questioned, regaining her nobility training and hardening both her face and voice.

The teenager's lip curled slightly. "I hate shinigami." Uryuu answered simply, but his words were heavily influenced by his anger towards her and death gods in general. "You're trying to interfere in matters that should not be trifled with. You would never understand so don't try to. Leave now and go back to where you came from because you're neither wanted nor needed here."

Rukia's cold expression faltered in surprise at his words. There was something big going on here in this town. Two girls that were somehow connected to a powerfully sane Hollow, a mysterious shop keeper and his companions who refused to even see her to answer her questions, and now a Quincy that was telling her not to interfere in the matters of this town. 'Why was I picked to patrol this town?' She asked herself bitterly before sighing and closing her eyes briefly before answering.

"I can't do that. I've been assigned to this area to kill Hollows, and that is my mission that I must carry out so-" The raven haired shinigami started, meaning to continue but Uryuu interrupted her before she could.

"Tell me, how many Hollows have you purified since you've arrived here?"

Startled at his seemingly unrelated question, Rukia's mind automatically counted back the days and times of when she'd even encountered any Hollows at all. Before, she hadn't even thought about the mysteriously low number of Hollows in the area and had disregarded alerts on her cell phone that vanished a minute later as mere faulty machinery, but now that she really thought back on it, there was that something definitely amiss because of her two weeks here, she'd only officially killed three Hollows.

Ignoring the Quincy's question, Rukia declared her own statement. "So it's been you killing all the Hollows in the area; along with that other Hollow that behaves irregularly!" She exclaimed accusingly, standing abruptly to coincide with her declaration and to position herself in a less vulnerable situation.

Uryuu merely adjusted his angle to keep his arrow pointed straight at her chest but showed no emotion at her words. "I see you understand just a little of what happens around here but there will be no more of that. Leave now, or I will kill you." His voice was ice, his eyes and posture showing that he would act on his words in an instant.

Rukia stiffened her frame when he threatened her; options running through her head. She could just leave and go back to Soul Society for reinforcements and to start an investigation, or she could disable him and still find out what's going on in this town. Either option had its own complications. She didn't want to risk bringing embarrassment to her Kuchiki name by running for help, but neither did she wish to bring about a confrontation with a Quincy who was thought to be extinct. Deciding quickly, she readied her stance, clasping her hand to her zanpakatou and withdrawing the blade an inch from its sheath.

Uryuu's lips pulled downwards for a split second, barely discernable. "Very well." Without allowing a second to elapse, he fired his arrow.

Alarmed at his speed, Rukia just barely dodged the fired missile with a well placed shunpo and appeared about ten feet away to his side. She drew her sword fully as he turned smartly on his heel and relentlessly fired another two more arrows her direction. Avoiding them with more shunpo, Rukia soon figured out that it was more of a game of chase than anything as she was barely allowed a second to stop shunpoing as the Quincy fired arrow after countless arrow after her form.

'This is bad, I need to disable him quickly. But how?' She thought furiously, skidding to a stop behind a light pole briefly to think, peeking out from behind the slim protecting metal and her violet eyes caught on the bracelet that was suspended in the air within the blue bow, deducing that it was the medium and outlet for his power. Nodding to herself, she moved out from behind the pole, immediately deflecting an arrow away from her body with her zanpakatou before shunpoing around the Quincy again, getting perfectly just a foot to his side and swinging her blade towards his bracelet.

Suddenly, her awareness branched out and she stiffened when she felt three distinct reiatsu pressures moving towards them, incredibly close by. Her split second distraction cost her and she cried out when an arrow caught the sleeve of her shihaksho, yanking her arm back and pinning her to the building behind her. Before she could even hope to rip free, three more arrows thunked into the cement around her; one at her other arm, one at her leg, and the last at her left side. Struggling fruitlessly, Rukia glared with wide eyes as Uryuu turned fully towards her, preparing another arrow.

Just as he pulled the drawstring back and aimed at her spiritual core, three humans stepped out behind him from another building, none of them looking at all surprised at the scene before them; all their faces hard and glaring as they stepped up behind the Quincy almost like backup.

There was a static buzz and suddenly the red plated Hollow appeared beside Uryuu, its gold on black eyes pinning her down more than those arrows ever could. None of the four humans now standing in front of her looked scared or startled at its presence. The Hollow leaned closer, his jaws opening within a few inches of her face, eyes never leaving her widened violet.

"Hello again, shinigami."

And ta da! :D LONG chapter! ;D now for explanations!

I couldn't find Ichigo's birth year anywhere so I had to make something up. Since according to Tite Kubo at the beginning of Bleach, Ichigo is 15 years old. He died when he was 13. So, I subtracted 2 years from this year, 2010, to get 2008, and then 13 from 2008, to get 1995 for his birth year. It works for the story as far as I'm concerned and sorry if anybody has problems with it; it was the best I could come up with. That makes Karin and Yuzu 9 when he was killed and 11 in this present time. Tatsuki, Orihime, Uryuu, and Chad all follow the same process though I don't know their specific ages. We'll just go with that they're all 15 as well. Everybody okay with that?

Another, I used different POV's and flashbacks in this chapter as a point of focus, giving another more personal feel to it as well as more background features before I went back to the present time and gave you a vague update on how Chad, Orihime, and her are all related and know Ichigo as of now. More detailed explanations and flashbacks will take place in later chapters. And as for the fight scent, yeah it wasn't a fight scene at all. But again, I was merely going for the emotional conflict and dramatics before the all the fighting flair. That will definitely take place later on when the shinigami and arrancar arcs take place.

Thanks for all the awesome reviews for the first chapter! :D tell me how you like this one now too! ^^ please and thanks again~!