Chapter 4:

It was the middle of the night. A time best suited for sleeping. Many times, Ichigo found himself paroling for Hollows during this time of night when all was quiet and dark, but not this night. This time he was in bed, like a normal human being. He enjoyed these evenings. After a long day in school, coming home for some dinner and finishing his homework, he looked forward to going to bed and sleeping.

"Ichigo. Ichigo."

He felt someone rocking him. It wasn't very soothing at all.

"Ichigo."

He felt two hands on his shoulder and heard his sister's voice calling him. It was little more than a whisper so he tried to go back to sleep.

"Ichigo. Ichigo." She was relentless. She pushed his shoulder forward and back, rocking his body from side to side.

"Mmm? What?"

"Ichigo, wake up. Ichigo, please." She sounded scared.

Hearing the urgency in her voice, Ichigo opened his eyes and turned to face her. Yuzu was looking at him with worried eyes. He looked at the clock on his desk. It was a little after midnight. He had only been asleep for a couple hours. He looked back at Yuzu who was staring at him expectantly. "What's wrong?" he asked her in a whisper.

"There's someone out there."

Ichigo sat up in bed rubbing his eyes. "What?"

"Out there." She pointed out the window.

Ichigo was now a little concerned. If Yuzu could see them then they couldn't have been Hollows or ghosts. It must have been a living person. "Who is it?"

"I don't know. They have a hood up. But they're standing outside our house, just staring at it. I think they're watching us."

It didn't sound like a burglar, but whoever was out there was scaring his sister. Ichigo got out of bed and followed Yuzu into the hall and down the stairs. She looked back every few steps to make sure he was still behind her. When they got to the kitchen, she latched onto his arm and pulled him over to the window facing the street. She made him duck down so they wouldn't be seen and carefully and slowly opened the curtain an inch to peek out.

"Right there. You see them?"

Ichigo looked between the curtains to the figure standing across the street under a streetlight. He was as still as a statue. The way he was standing under the streetlight in a hooded cloak gave him an ominous look. He was just staring at the house, exactly as Yuzu had said.

"He's been out there for hours, I think. He was there when I went to bed. When I checked again he was still there in the same place. He's watching us, Ichigo."

Whoever this man was, he was creepy. Ichigo tried to get a better look at him, turning his head in an attempt to catch a glimpse of his face in the light. His hood was up, covering his face from the light so Ichigo couldn't see who he was. The hood was black and so were his pants. His only exposed skin came from his feet. He wasn't barefoot. He was wearing wooden clogs.

Ichigo growled in annoyance.

"Should we call the police?" Yuzu asked sounding worried.

"No. I know this guy."

"He's a friend of yours?"

"Something like that."

Yuzu relaxed. She wasn't gripping Ichigo's arm so tightly anymore.

"I'll go talk to him." Ichigo stood up and went to the front door.

He opened the door and stepped outside. The air was cool and made his nose tingle. The only sounds he could hear were the chirping of insects and the distant zooming of cars on gravel. It was so peaceful. At least until he made it across the street and started scolding the man on the other side.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Kisuke smiled, his hood tipping back slightly so Ichigo would see his cheerful face. "Good evening."

Ichigo punched him.

Kisuke held his nose in his right hand. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"I asked you what you were doing. Standing out here like some freaky weirdo. You're scaring my little sister."

"Sorry. But I didn't want to call you after dinner. That would have been rude. Everyone's sleeping."

Ichigo clenched his fists, ready to punch him again. "What do you want?" he hissed angrily.

"I've come to pass on a message from the Soul Society."

Ichigo was less tense. "The Soul Society?"

Kisuke nodded. They contacted me for some information not too long ago and mentioned that they wanted to speak with you."

"About what?"

"They didn't say. I came here to tell you. Sorry about scaring your sister, but I figured this would be a good way to get your attention. I figured you would be up and see me from your window."

"When do they want to talk to me?"

"It was mentioned that it would be sometime tomorrow afternoon. At least they gave some heads-up for a change."

Ichigo frowned. "Tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yup."

"Then why the hell didn't you wait to tell me this in the morning or in the afternoon?"

Kisuke grinned. "I couldn't sleep and needed something to do."

Ichigo punched him again. "You're freaking annoying, you know that, Hat-and-Clogs?"

"Sorry, sorry." Kisuke lifted his hood a little further to show more of his face which now had a bloody nose. "But, Ichigo, I urge you to take this seriously."

Kisuke's tone had changed to something less cheerful. He was being very serious.

"The questions they were asking me were troublesome. They wouldn't tell me much, but they did mention wanting to get in contact with you. They had something important to take care of before that which is why I think they're waiting to get a hold of you. They didn't mention very much to me, but it's troubling. Whatever they want with you, please be careful."

Now Ichigo was getting a little concerned. Kisuke only asked him to be careful when things were deadly serious. Whatever was going on, it wasn't sitting well with him.

"I'm sure you don't have anything to worry about. They should have a handle on things. I just want you to be prepared regardless of what happens," said Kisuke. "They say they want to speak with you, but it sounds to me that it's more than just talking. They want you there for something. Whatever it must be, there must be a reason why they want to wait until everything is in order before bringing you there. That's all I'm saying."

Kisuke was right. This wasn't just a simple meeting to check in on how things were going. They must have expected more from him than that.

"Got it."

Even though Kisuke told him it was nothing to worry about, it was difficult for Ichigo to get back to sleep after hearing this. He was up a good part of the night, thinking about it, wondering what they wanted and what was going to happen.

Ichigo could hardly pay attention in class the next day. He was still dwelling on what Kisuke had told him last night. He was asked to stop by the shop and wait there for Rukia who would be taking him to the Soul Society. When class finally ended, Ichigo said his good-byes to his friends and left as quickly as he could.

"What do they want?" he kept asking himself. "What do they want?"

"Watch!"

Ichigo stopped just short of Uryu who was leaving from a different side of the school building. Ichigo and Uryu stared at each other for a moment, then Uryu turned away.

"Sorry."

"Just watch where you're going, ok, Ichigo?"

"Yeah, sure." Ichigo frowned. "Are you ok?"

Uryu kept walking.

"Uryu!"

"Hm?" He looked up.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Nothing. You just seem sort of... distant. You know?"

Uryu looked insulted. "I'm fine. It's nothing. You're imagining things."

Uryu was different. Even during class, he rarely spoke and hesitated when answering questions as if his mind was elsewhere like Ichigo's. Had Kisuke told him the same thing? Maybe not. Uryu was taking a different route than Ichigo. He wasn't heading for the Urahara Shop. As he walked, Uryu kept his head down, distracted by something. Whatever he was thinking about, it must have been very important. He almost walked into traffic two times on his way home.

Ichigo decided to take a detour and follow Uryu. He hid behind a fence and watched Uryu walk to the alley behind his house and stop. He took out a piece of paper from his backpack and gave it a long hard look. It must have been a letter of some sort. He pulled out a book of matches and struck one. He set the paper ablaze and watched it burn. He stomped out the remains of the flame and returned the matches to his bag. He gave a quick look around and left for home. Ichigo watched him enter his house, making sure he wasn't going anywhere else. Ichigo went to the tiny pile of ash on the asphalt and wondered what was written on the piece of paper Uryu burned.

"Whatever it was, it was too important to burn in his house. Maybe more secretive than important actually. He must have not wanted his dad to catch him with it or something." Ichigo went to see Kisuke, all the while thinking about what he had just seen. "Or maybe his dad told him to do that. His dad smokes so I bet that's where he got the matches. Then again, he could have taken the matches himself. I can't see him doing something his father told him to do now that I think about it."

Kisuke welcomed him into the shop and sat Ichigo down to a cup of hot tea and some cookies.

"I thought it was serious business," said Ichigo. "I feel like I'm at a tea party or something."

"Don't tell me you don't have an afternoon snack after class, Ichigo."

He wasn't in the mood.

"So..." Kisuke said, taking a seat across from him. "I'm sure you're wondering what all this is about. To tell you the truth, so am I. No one is telling me anything. What they are telling me isn't much. All I can say for certain is that it's Hollow business in the Soul Society. There's not much going on here, so you should feel some relief."

He did. Ichigo was happy to know that his family wasn't in any immediate danger.

"Something must be going on back at the Soul Society. I don't know what and judging from the lack of information, I'm starting to think even they haven't much of an idea themselves. I know it's not much to go on but I'm in the dark here myself. I wish I had more to give you, but I'm sure Rukia will be able to explain more when she arrives."

It was rare for Kisuke to not know what's going on or have a lack of information. When something happened, Kisuke was usually the one who knew everything. Whatever was going on in the Soul Society must have just occurred or was so contained or secretive that hardly anyone was aware.

Kisuke pushed the plate of cookies closer to Ichigo, hinting strongly that he wanted him to eat some. To appease him, Ichigo took a cookie off the plate and held it.

Kisuke checked his watch and looked around the room. "She should be showing up soon. Sorry there isn't much more to talk about." Kisuke was trying to fill the silence and pass the time. "So how was school?"

"Stop talking." Ichigo took a bite out of the cookie.

Kisuke grinned.

Ichigo finished the cookie in his mouth and reached for another one when he noticed a light shining from the next room. He immediately knew what it was and who had just arrived. He stood up from the table to greet her.

"Hey, Ichigo," said Rukia as she stepped into the room. "Ready to go?"

"Don't worry about a thing," said Kisuke. "We'll look after everything while you're away."

Changing into his Soul Reaper form, Ichigo followed Rukia back to the Soul Society. They wasted no time in getting there. Along the way, Ichigo asked Rukia what all this business was about but she said it could wait until they reached the Soul Society. Ichigo didn't ask again until they arrived.

Ichigo's eyes quickly adjusted to the light as they stepped out into a familiar sight. The Seireitei was bright and full of activity. Passing Soul Reapers greeted them and showed Rukia their respect by bowing their heads and stepping out of her way as she passed by. Ichigo's attitude toward the new Lieutenant hadn't changed. He never bowed to her before she was a Lieutenant and he didn't bow to her now. He didn't see the point. As far as he was concerned, she was his friend so there was no need to show her respect. When he said that out loud, he realized how it sounded but refused to phrase it any other way. No matter how many times she kicked him. If anything, that made him say it louder.

"Now will you tell me what all this is about?" he asked. He was getting annoyed that he had been here for several minutes and still had no answers.

"Lieutenant Kuchiki," a Soul Reaper said, running up to her. "The Captain asked me to tell you that he needs you to head just outside the gate. And to take Kurosaki with you."

"Now? I was just-"

"He says that it's important for Kurosaki to be with you. Says it has something to do with the mission, I think he phrased it."

"Alright, we're on our way." Rukia turned back to him. "Let's go, Ichigo."

Ichigo had to wait even longer to get his answers. He didn't complain about the travel time because they were already decently close to the gate. He wanted answers, but if Ukitake wanted them to go outside for that, then Ichigo had little choice. Maybe this was something he had to see for himself.

They left the Seireitei and stepped outside into an open area. There was nothing. Ichigo turned his head left and right, but nothing caught his attention. He expected to see something great. He didn't know what, but from the way it sounded, he expected to see something extraordinary that would explain or at least give him a clue as to why he was here in the first place.

"Can't you just tell me what's going on already?" Ichigo didn't bother to hide the annoyance in his voice when he spoke to Rukia. "I think I've waited long enough."

"To be honest with you, Ichigo, I would love to know myself."

Ichigo's face softened. "Wait. You don't know?"

"Not really." Rukia sighed. "I've only been told bits and pieces. I was informed that once you were here and everyone this involves was gathered together, we would all hear the news from start to finish. Captain Ukitake said that another Captain was involved and didn't want to explain the same thing multiple times so he thought it would be best to get everyone together then tell us what was going on so there would be no need for repetition."

"Well, that makes sense." Ichigo looked around. If there were many people involved it made more sense to get everyone together rather than explain things individually over and over. He would just have to wait until everyone arrived. The question now on his mind was who else was involved.

He continued to look around for whatever it was he was supposed to be seeing, but he still couldn't find anything. Everything looked normal.

"But how many more people are involved? I thought you guys were holding off until I got here. Now that I am, what's the holdup? Who are we waiting for?"

Rukia didn't answer him. It wasn't because she didn't want to answer him. It was because she was distracted by something. It was a faint Spiritual Pressure she was detecting. She could sense it was a threat and drew her sword. "Ichigo."

Without having to say anything further, he knew. Ichigo and Rukia had been together for a while now and had fought many battles together. They were in sync with each other and knew what to do. They worked well together with need for little words. It had become natural instinct.

Ichigo could see something in the distance and started moving in that direction. The figure was getting closer, moving towards them willingly. It was a threat. Ichigo gripped his sword and prepared to attack.

"Two more on the left," Rukia warned.

These ones were closer. He could tell from this distance that they were Hollows. They were small for Hollows; only slightly taller than himself. It wasn't often that he got a chance to fight something closer to his size but it would be an interesting experience.

Rukia chose one and Ichigo went after the other. She jumped up and slashed the Hollow across the chest, but there was a slight bit of hesitation behind her blade. Something had caused Rukia to second guess herself. She was aware of it but Ichigo was not. He was concentrating on the second Hollow coming at him with claws and teeth.

He sliced the Hollow in half and went for its head to make sure he finished it off. He slashed the head in two and landed with his sword out in front of his body, looking around for more. The one he saw in the distance was no longer in sight, but he knew it hadn't wandered off. It was seeking out its prey.

"There's one further away," he told Rukia. "I'm sure it's a Hollow, too. I'm going after it."

Screaming alerted them to the village ahead. The Hollow had made it to a populated area and was attacking people.

"It made it to the District," said Rukia. "Hurry!"

They ran in a straight line to the village, their cries becoming more urgent as the Soul Reapers drew closer. They were being attacked. Rukia split from Ichigo, taking a path across the rooftops for a better view. Ichigo remained on the ground.

Something grabbed Ichigo around the neck as he passed by a building and hoisted him off the ground.

"Ichigo!" Rukia noticed he was in trouble and stopped running.

The Hollow had its hand around Ichigo's neck and raised him off the ground to its level. Ichigo was stunned for a moment but was able to recover from his shock quickly and reacted. He raised his sword and chopped off the Hollow's hand. It gave a sharp roar and watched its hand fall.

Ichigo landed, jumped back and gripped his sword with both hands to lop off its head next.

He never got the chance. Ichigo remained very still, staring at the Hollow.

It wasn't looking at him. The Hollow was ignoring Ichigo but not because it had lost interest in its opponent. Something was wrong.

There was a long deep laceration in the Hollow's chest. It looked like it had been sliced by an incredibly sharp blade.

Ichigo had not swung his sword so the cause of the wound was a mystery to him.

The Hollow gurgled and fell apart. Between its two halves, through the fresh wound, Ichigo saw a man in white.

Ichigo dropped his shoulders. The familiar face standing behind the Hollow left Ichigo feeling defeated but also very warm inside. "Victor."

Victor's hand was pointed downward and straight like a blade. He straightened up and relaxed his fingers. "Hello, Ichigo," he greeted warmly. "It's been a while."

It had been a while. He had almost forgotten the man's handsome face. Since it never changed, it was easy for Ichigo to identify him.

"Wait, if you're here... Then..." Ichigo started looking around for the rest of the family.

"Hi, Ichigo!"

The cheerful voice brought his attention to the rooftop. Linnette was waving enthusiastically from Cedric's shoulders.

"Linnette. And Cedric."

Cedric hopped down and landed on the ground with ease. He lowered his body for Linnette to get off, but she could hardly contain herself and couldn't wait for him to ease her down gently. She jumped off his shoulders, stumbled a bit and ran the rest of the way to Ichigo. She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. She was incredibly happy to see him.

"Ichigo, it's great to see you! It's been almost two whole years! How have you been? Did you miss me? Did you get the other letters I sent you a while ago? Have you been busy? What have you been doing? I have so much I want to tell you!"

"Take a breath, sweetie," said Victor. "You are so excited."

"Let's space out the questions a little bit, hm?" said Cedric. "Give him a minute to answer them. He can't possibly do it all at once."

"I didn't except him to answer everything at once," said Linnette.

Cedric nodded to Ichigo in greeting. "Good to see you."

"Same here," said Ichigo. "I take you guys are the ones we were waiting for."

"We were called here earlier and told that you would also be showing up. We haven't been told any details other than we all have to wait until everyone has arrived. Then we will be giving an explanation."

It seemed Ichigo wasn't the only one in this position. They had done the same thing to Linnette's group.

"Now that we're together, we can finally get answers." Ichigo called for Rukia. "Come on, Rukia. Let's head back and see what's going on."

"Don't order me around like that. I'm a Lieutenant now." Even while lecturing him, she still followed beside him.

What could this be about? Any thoughts?

Please review! ^-^