"... And?"

To alleviate the tension, he allowed his mask to disappear, making his eyes return to their normal colour. Katsuko's face visibly relaxed but she still kept cautious eyes on Shinji. She was still leaning away too.

"Don't you get it?" Shinji smirked and pointed at her. "You're a Vizard too."

Her response was immediate. "No, I'm not." Her tone almost sounded childish.

"Come on," Shinji tilted his head, his face sporting a deadpan one. "You basically told me Aizen hollowfied Naogoma Chisaki and that her Hollow infected you."

Katsuko didn't say anything at first, she only narrowed her eyes.

She suspected that might have been the case but...

How the hell would he know?!

"What are you talking about? How could you possibly know that? I don't feel anything abnormal going on with me, so that Hollow probably doesn't even exist now. It probably just grew weaker and... I don't know, expired."

She's been back at home for a while now and nothing strange was happening, that was the truth.

"What, you think inner Hollows just up and vanish? Once a Hollow enters the soul, there's no goin' back from it." Shinji narrowed his eyes at her and leaned closer. "The only reason why Chisaki was permitted to stay in the Soul Society is because they don't see her as a threat. Otherwise, they would have killed her." Katsuko stiffened. "The Hollow migrated into your soul, plain and simple." He pointed at her. "I know you have a Hollow." Katsuko was starting to glare at Shinji now but he wasn't fazed by it and simply kept talking. "You may not feel any symptoms now, but I assure you, your inner Hollow is goin' to act up… and when that happens, it's goin' to consume you."

Katsuko tore her eyes away from Shinji's eyes and looked at the ground. Her hands lifted and she grabbed her ears as if she wanted to muffle them. She didn't know what Shinji's goal was, but she didn't want to hear it. It was a mistake to let him run his mouth. He was only making her fear worse when she was already forgetting about it.

She already assumed that would be the case. But the fact that Shinji confirmed it for her only serve to scare her. Oh, how it would be so easy just to deny it all.

She was fine. Everything was fine until he told her all of this.

She pictured the Hollow that infected Chisaki's soul.

A horrifying scene with a blood curling scream.

"That inner Hollow will destroy everythin' you cherish and—"

Katsuko clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth.

Stop!

Startled, Shinji gaped at how she just got up and started walking off. "Oi! Katsuko!" he grabbed his coffee and pursued her, but she refused to look at him even as he called her name. "I didn't finish what I had to say!"

Katsuko stopped in her tracks and gave him a piercing glare as she snapped. "Stop! Stop trying to scare me! I don't want to hear it!" Shinji blinked at the way she raised her voice. That was a first. But at least that was a sign that he was getting to her. "If that's all you're trying to achieve then just stop and get hell away from me." Katsuko growled at him.

Shinji sighed heavily at this and put a hand on his hip. "I'm not tryin' to scare you. I'm just tellin' you as it is."

"And what the hell do you gain from it?" She spat sarcastically.

His face became devoid of anything but seriousness. "I gain your consideration into the choice I'm offerin' you. Like I said, once your Hollow begins to act up, you're goin' to slowly be consumed by it, and when that happens, you won't be able to subdued it on your own. You'll become a mindless Hollow that destroys everythin', your home, your future, the people you care about. If you don't want that happenin' to you, then you'll come with me as a Vizard."

Are you serious?

"That's not a choice." Katsuko remarked after a pause.

He cocked his head as he paused. "It really isn't." He smirked at her. "You don't have a choice." He clarified. "But don't you see? This choice is the only salvation you're goin' to get."

The summer breeze blew and rustled the tree leaves around them. Their clothes swayed in the wind as they kept staring at each other silently. Katsuko still sported the look of annoyance and slight irritation while Shinji just looked confident.

This weirdo is not threatening me.

He's just… fucking talking.

"You're a smart girl, Katsuko. I'm sure you can understand the position you're in. Once the people you trusted become aware of your Hollow, they'll turn their back on you. No one will help you." He spoke in a serious tone with a matching expression, and then he held out his hand to her. "But not if you come with me. I'll show you how you can keep your sanity."

She eyed his hand.

She looked back up at him.

Dark brown eyes met lighter brown ones.

"I'm smart enough to doubt your invitation. I don't know if you're going to kill me once I go with you. For all I know, you're just a weird Soul Reaper preying on young girls."

His hand twitched. Exasperated, Shinji rolled his eyes with a groan as he dropped his hand to his side. "Again, who the hell do you take me for?!" His hand rose up to his shoulders in disbelief as he snapped. "I'm not a murderer nor am I a pedophile!"

No, apparently, you're some freaking Hollow doctor.

"And if I say no?"

"Then you're goin' to find out that I'm very persistent in what I want."

…

…

…

"God, you sound like a fucking villain right now."

"Language, geez."

…

…

…

In the end, she managed to shake off Shinji and head back home. But not before he told her that he'd still try to convince her into joining him and reminding her that she was already a Vizard. Currently, she was just sitting on the living room couch and just staring blankly at the television. One of her favorite shows was playing but she just couldn't bring herself to enjoy it.

Hirako Shinji is a Vizard, a Soul Reaper who gained Hollow powers.

Rukia told her it was forbidden to obtain such power.

Chisaki screaming as the Hollow bit into her neck and dug its claws into her.

Ichigo telling her how his inner Hollow gave Byakuya a beating.

Katsuko pulled her legs up on the couch and folded her arms on her knees to set her chin on them.

I don't want a Hollow ruining everything I care about.

Who the hell would want that?

She really should have just taken the offer when presented in front of her. Honestly, she almost just naively nodded her head and agreed. Discreet desperation for help was present.

However, she didn't know if there was a catch for joining them. She didn't know if she could fully trust Shinji since, honestly, she didn't know him at all. She only knew the Shinji that she would run into at the bakery, the man who showed no signs of deceit. She knew Shinji as the man who would scold her for 'stealing' his favourite bread. She knew Shinji as the man who would make light conversation and joke a little with her. That's the Shinji she knew.

This new Shinji made her take a step back.

Her trust isn't cheap. She learned that after repeated lies.

What the hell would Shinji gain from recruiting her into his Vizard group? He said that he was going to be persistent in recruiting her, but she just couldn't think of a reason why. If she was adamant about refusing him then he wouldn't lose anything from it. She would be the one losing. Why should it matter to him if she decided to let herself be devoured by the Hollow inside her?

She wanted to go with him if it meant getting some salvation from her own inner Hollow and putting her fear deep in the ground.

But she couldn't put her trust in him without knowing what he was really after.

She couldn't believe that he was doing this without an ulterior motive.

There had to be a reason.

Katsuko sighed heavily and shifted her head to set her forehead on her arms. Her face hid and she saw darkness.

Or maybe he didn't have some hidden agenda…?

Maybe he's not as bad as I think he is?

But I really can't trust him when I don't know...

But there was one thing she could be certain of out of all of this: Shinji knew how to control his inner Hollow somehow. He said that hers would eventually consume her if she didn't do anything about it. Was it illegal to obtain those powers because it caused that type of problem for a Soul Reaper? She imagined it would be problematic if a number of Soul Reapers in the Soul Society became Hollow-possessed and caused rampages. If so, then it was probably safe to assume that he might have had that problem before.

What to do…

The Hollow was something she couldn't see nor sense but was now certain was there.

It was a manifestation of fear she felt of destroying her happy illusion.

"So, you failed?"

"Not my fault she's so cautious—" Shinji got sent flying back a few feet after getting drop kicked by a short blonde haired girl wearing a red and white jogging suit. "What the hell, Hiyori?!" he screamed as he bolted up, holding his face, the place he was kicked in.

She stomped her foot. "Stupid Shinji! You go braggin' on about how easy it was gonna be and then you come back, draggin' your ass, empty handed!"

With a growl, he pointed a finger at her. "I don't see you doin' anythin'! Why the hell do I have to be the one doin' the recruitin'?!"

Hiyori huffed in annoyance. "As if I'd do somethin' annoying as recruitin' people." She spat before dropping herself on the couch, snubbing him.

"Besides, you know the girl." A black haired bespectacled woman, Yadomaru Lisa, remarked as Shinji got back up on his feet and dusted his clothes. "It should obviously be you."

"Did you even manage to convince her a little?" A man with a star-shaped looking afro, Aikawa Rabu (or just Love), wondered.

"I think so." Shinji scratched his ear, recalling all the expressions Katsuko displayed in front of him. He could see the uncertainty in her wavering eyes. That uncertainty would go hand in hand with the fear she admitted. When a person becomes troubled with those fears, they would surely do what they can to find a way and settle themselves.

"I sincerely hope you didn't use force on the girl." A man with long blonde hair, Otoribashi Rojuro (or Rose), spoke.

"Nah. The pacifist route works better for her." Shinji waved it off.

"Would it be better if more than one of us went to go convince her?" Mashiro wondered as she sat on the floor, curiously looking at the others.

"I doubt that would work." Kensei answered gruffly.

"If she is cautious, then it would be best not to give her more reason to think we mean her harm." Hachigen explained the to green haired Vizard who just blinked and hummed thoughtfully. "It would be best if she came of her own volition."

Shinji heaved a sigh as he planted himself in a free seat. "For now, I'll just be patient. She claims to not feel any of the symptoms so far, so there's time. It's when it begins to act up that it gets risky." He slumped in his seat a little and sat in the same manner as Katsuko with his head tilted back. "She'll come to. She has no choice."

At the very least, it seemed like she was going to be the easiest persuade out of the two.

Chisaki managed to keep her Hollow at bay somehow, an impressive feat. However, it was impossible to do that forever. She chose to seal herself inside a human child to concentrate on her Hollow.

A regular human child was the perfect container for her? How intriguing.

And that regular human child managed to somehow awaken Soul Reaper powers within her that belonged to Chisaki?

Huh...

August 26th

Katsuko scratched her head.

Annoying…

She was at her learning center. She was doing her weekly attendance and currently struggling with her worksheet. She had gone and corrected her pages and went back to her seat to correct her mistakes. But for some reason, she still couldn't find the answer to a couple of mistakes. How annoying. It was hard. The only thing calming her down is the music in her ears. She always preferred listening to music while doing her work. If she wasn't listening to music, she'd probably be sweating a little from the mental panic. The thoughts she would be stuck with would only worsen with the absolute silence. She's had that experience before and it's especially terrible when it's because she was greeted with new material she couldn't quite understand on her own.

She wasn't the only one who felt like that. There was once a boy her age who was weeping over his work since he didn't know what to do.

She glanced up at the digital clock at the front.

Yikes.

She was spending way too much time than she liked at the learning center. Hell, even her time spent doing this work was mocking her. The assistant wrote thirty minutes in red for a measly five pages recto-verso, and it looked like it was making fun of her, reminding her that even she struggled like everyone else sometimes. She should have just lied about the time to make herself feel better.

It's just a few more mistakes. I'll finish them at home.

If I still can't find the answer, I guess I'll ask my neighbour for help.

With a sigh, she put down her pencil and started packing up quietly. The learning center was very quiet since everyone was working independently on their worksheets. The only time people talked is when they asked for help from the assistants correcting their work or if the 'head teacher' called upon a student to discuss about their performance. The place was like a library.

After stuffing her homework in her given bag, she quietly got up from her stool and gently pushed it under the table to not disturb the person who was sitting next to her.

Whoa... that kid over there looks really depressed. He must hate coming here. Well, I can understand his feelings. This place isn't exactly bursting with joy.

With her file in hand, she walked over to the front of the door where the head teacher's daughter was managing the desk.

"You done?"

Wordlessly, Katsuko nodded and handed her file for her to check. She was so eager to just bolt out the door and head home.

"Where is today's work?" The young woman looked up at her.

"I'll finish it at home since I can't stay long today." she replied flatly.

An easy lie.

"Alright." The young woman nodded and dropped her file in one of the boxes next to her while waving at her with her free hand. "Okay, you're good. Bye." With that, Katsuko pushed the door open and left with a sigh of relief. Staying too long always made her feel brain dead whenever she finally left. But on the other hand, that burst of dopamine she gets when she leaves made her feel a little better.

Around her, sitting on benches, were parents who brought over their children and were waiting for them to finish. They could watch their kids through the long windows on the side. It reminded her of when her mother used to peer at her through the window and sometimes look at her questioningly whenever she was in there for too long. In response, she would comically shrug at her. She didn't always come along since she was busying working (or just staying home because she was tired from work), but when she did, it always made her feel happy. Now, she usually went with her father who drove her there and chose to wait in the car in the parking lot.

Yawning, she went down the stairs and then went straight towards the parking lot to find the familiar car, a black Honda. She found her father sleeping in his reclined driver seat, and she decided to knock on the glass once to scare him awake before climbing into the front seat since he always insisted having her in the front.

The drive home was filled with radio and her own music.

Her eyes were starting to flutter close with how calm it was. Fighting drowsiness was pointless since she didn't want to in the first place. She didn't know how long her eyes were shut but it felt long yet short. She had a dreamless power nap. But a spasm woke her from her little nap. Her drowsy dark brown eyes observed the world around her while she squinted her eyes from the brightness attacking her eyes, and her brain was easily able to recognize the familiar area. They were nearing home. Finally. When she adjusted herself in her seat and looked outside the window, she noticed the bakery that she often frequented.

Maybe I'll ask mom if she wants to go buy if she does some last minute shopping later.

She blinked slowly, thinking about what she could eat from there instead of the usual.

Then, the doors opened. Three people walked outside of the bakery.

Surprised, Katsuko blinked when she noticed Shinji, Mashiro and some guy with an afro and sunglasses walking out with bags.

Shinji, who sensed her spiritual pressure, turned towards the car. He looked directly towards the window she was seated at and made eye contact with her. Katsuko jolted in her seat at how fast he noticed her. Her surprised expression was responded with a Cheshire grin (minus the teeth). In response, Katsuko scowled and turned away from the window with a light groan. Thankfully, the light turned green so she didn't have to worry about Shinji staring at her like a creep for much longer.

Her dad turned to look at her curiously. "What's wrong?" he asked as he advanced the car.

"Nothing. I just saw an ugly cat."

For the past two days, she would try and set aside the inner Hollow issue to not stress over it. However, she knew that she couldn't avoid it forever. It usually came back to her whenever she recalled her conversation with Ichigo back in Squad 4. Plus, she couldn't help but remember it since she was worried about herself. She was freaking scared. It didn't help that whenever she had to get rid of a Hollow near her area in the past two days, Shinji would show up as if she called him over. True to his word, he was being persistent.

On the second day, she may have 'accidentally' swung her sword in his direction while telling him to buzz off.

He still wouldn't back off though.

"You may not feel any symptoms now, but I assure you, your inner Hollow is goin' to act up… and when that happens, it's goin' to consume you."

She bit her lip. She was getting stressed.

... I'm scared.

I don't think I can mentally take this.

August 27th

Katsuko skidded to a stop on a building once she swiveled around the Hollow to stop it from running past her. The Hollow reeled back in surprise and tried running the other way. An irk mark appeared on her forehead when it did. This Hollow was quite good at running away.

With a growl, Katsuko raced across the building with all her might and then aggressively swung her sword to slice its head from behind. The top half of its head went flying off as she spun around and landed on the adjacent building. It let out a shriek before dissolving and then disappearing completely just like all the Hollows she killed before.

Katsuko let out a brief huff and sheathed her blade with a light sound.

That Hollow destroyed a whole building before I got here…

Whatever it was chasing must have really enticed it.

She looked to her left and saw how people were taking pictures of the destruction. It made her feel bad for whoever had jobs in there. She also hoped that no one died in there. Due to the lack of structures blocking the wind, she felt quite a strong one that she had to squint and push her hair out of her face. That was her cue to get off from such a place and head back home.

When she made it home, she decided to go by the front door since no one would be home. She could just knock and Aiza would answer the door for her. No need to climb in through the veranda or window. When she made it to the second floor, she froze when she turned because she found Shinji sitting on the rail with a bag from the bakery.

"Yo." He grinned at her as if he was greeting her normally. Honestly, it was surprising that Shinji decided to appear at her house now. On one hand she thought he remembered but would rather pester her somewhere else in town, but on the other, she thought he might have simply forgotten since it was irrelevant information prior to recent events. Turns out it was the former until now.

"Oh, look, it's the ugly cat." Katsuko mumbled to herself with a chuckle. She was shaking her head at her little joke. Shinji inquired about what she said but she only waved her hand dismissively.

"Had a nice Hollow hunt?"

"Sure." She shrugged and casually walked towards her door, ignoring him. He was seriously like an annoying house fly. Except that this fly had hands. She felt Shinji tug on the back of her Shihakusho, causing her to stumble back into the rail. She glanced over at him in annoyance and met his easy going smirk. She could only be grateful he didn't slam her into the rail. He didn't hurt her. When he met her unamused stare, he sighed heavily and let go of her.

"Still bein' stubborn?"

"You being creepy makes me want to be stubborn."

Shinji scowled at her blunt answer. "Don't be stupid, Katsuko."

"I'm being cautious. There's a difference."

Shinji hopped off the rail and crossed his arms just as he leaned his side against the rail. "What's there to be cautious about? Surely it can't be more important than keepin' your sanity in check."

"Sometimes, I have a hard time trusting people when I discover they've been lying for a long time." She said as a matter-of-factly while checking her nails. She only glanced at him when she could feel his eyes on her head. She faced him with the most blank expression to show that she meant what she said and wouldn't trust him unless he gave her something else to work with. "Why do you care whether or not I join your little club? As far as I can tell, I'm the one who's losing if I refuse, not you. You could literally turn a blind eye to what's happening to me. Why would you try so hard just to recruit me? Why waste your time with me?"

Shinji could see it in her eyes, she was expecting a proper answer from him. It was imperative that he did. No bullshit.

Annoyed, Shinji sighed and narrowed his eyes at her. "You sure do like to ask questions." He turned to rest his arms on the rail and looked ahead. Katsuko silently watched him, staring at the scowl on his face that appeared. For some reason, it seemed like he was staring at something distant. "The Soul Society doesn't care if you were a saint or a great hero. If you become somethin' they don't like or did somethin' that wasn't of your own volition, they'll make you an outcast criminal without a second thought. There is no say in the matter. You don't even get the chance to clear your name. Everyone turns their back on you. Your home, friends, and everythin' is just taken away from you. That's reality." Shinji smirked and glanced at her. "Pretty messed up, am I right?"

Katsuko silently stared back at him.

Whoa what.

His tone sounded so impersonal as he spoke that she couldn't help but feel bothered by it.

Hollow powers was not something they wanted. I guess that makes sense after what I saw in Chisaki's memory. Then I can assume that Shinji was one of the people that Chisaki saw in that illusion.

He's speaking from experience, right?

So why didn't he sound bitter about it? If obtaining Hollow powers was illegal and forced upon them. Then why treat them like an enemy? That's just not fair. Damn. She was getting upset now. What the hell, she wasn't the one who got treated like disposable trash by the Soul Society but she felt quite pissed!

"But even after all of that, coming out as a survivor is better than whatever sentence they choose."

... Damn. The Soul Society... is... actually not so great if they did that. Soul Society, as in Central 46 since they're the government, right?

"So… what, you're trying to… really help me?" Katsuko guessed hesitantly, hoping she wasn't wrong so that she wouldn't feel embarrassed or stupid.

"I guess. I'm also not a heartless guy, you know?" Shinji leaned his chin in his hand and lightly shrugged. "Besides, you're just a kid who was the perfect vessel for Chisaki but was somehow able to use her powers. I'll admit, my interest is piqued and so is the others."

"Ah, there it is!" She pointed at him with a grin. She finally got something out of him. "Self-interest. Good to know."

He chortled. "I never said I was a saint."

Shinji's real motive for recruiting her was mostly self-interest and because he somewhat cared. He experienced first hand what kind of betrayal the Soul Society could do. He was trying to save her from the betrayal he went through.

Were those reasons enough for her to be convinced? Maybe she was foolish and naïve to think so because of that suspicious reason...

Fuck it.

She was going to anyway.

I'll take the risk and trust him.

Because I'm scared and I wouldn't know what to do on my own.

I'm more scared of my Hollow than what they could potentially do to me.

Katsuko crossed her arms and sighed heavily. She just hoped that she wouldn't greatly regret this choice. "Fine, I'll go with you."

"Oh, thank god." Slouching, Shinji rolled his eyes in pure relief but she could detect slight annoyance in his tone. He had been enduring Hiyori's drop kicks for a few days now and was annoyed every time he had to go out whenever Katsuko did just to keep being persistent. He also had to endure the insulting assumptions (and plain insults and cusses) that Katsuko openly threw at him since she was so suspicious, not to mention that one time she swung her Zanpakuto at him. Seriously, he was going through verbal and physical abuse from two girls.

It was frustrating. She actually took longer to crack than he thought.

"But, it's like I told you, I don't feel anything Hollow-related going on with me."

"Meh, it's fine." Shinji straightened up. "We've got people who had slow-starter Hollows too. It just takes a little shove for it to poke its head out."

"And how do you do that?" She cocked her head.

"I think that's somethin' reserved for when we get to it, yeah?" Shinji then stepped closer and poked right in below her collarbones. "But one thing's assured, that Hollow will be dragged out."

I really hope I don't regret my choice.

She decided to go with Shinji right away instead of just delaying it. After all, school was happening soon and she'd rather be done with it sooner so it wouldn't interfere with her studies. She could only imagine going on a Hollow rampage during a test. How awful.

When she notified Aiza at the door that she'd be gone for a while, she noticed that Aiza kept giving Shinji stink eye who just stuck his tongue out at the her. She even tried to stop Katsuko from going with him. It took about a minute to reassure Aiza and have her close the door.

In her Soul Reaper form, she followed Shinji to wherever he was bringing her (or more like get dragged off by him... he literally grabbed the back of her Shihakusho and flash stepped away).

On the way there, it was quiet mostly because Katsuko's responses to Shinji's talking was short due to her being lost in thought. She was thinking about what kind of people be at their destination. She recalled the illusion that Chisaki saw because of Aizen. She couldn't remember specific details of the memory other than the white haori and the eight people lying on the ground. Oh, there was also Kensei and Mashiro too. While thinking about it, she realized that the illusion must have been an exaggeration of the real event since Mashiro clearly still had her head on her shoulders.

But she couldn't remember anything else that might help her try and figure out who might be waiting for her and Shinji.

She wasn't going to play Sherlock and give her brain mental gymnastics.

By the time she gave up on the futile attempts to recall, she noticed that they were in an area surrounded by warehouses. It had Katsuko frowning.

How not suspicious-looking.

"You're not about to drag me there and drug me, are you?" Katsuko snorted as her right hand held her left wrist in front of her.

Shinji's eye twitched and he scowled at her. "Keep talkin' like that and imma smack you."

Katsuko huffed and looked away from him. "Can't blame me for thinking like that. This looks like a place where drug dealers hang out and where gang fights happen. I don't like it."

"Don't worry, goody-two-shoes, you're only dealin' with Vizards."

Katsuko gave him a side glance with a lifted eyebrow. "Yes, Hollow-Soul Reapers, that sounds even better."

He smirked and inwardly laughed. "Beggars can't be choosers, Katsuko."

"Whatever."

Their little banter ended as soon as they stopped in front of a specific warehouse. Shinji beckoned her to keep follow him and asked her to shut the door behind her. They entered through a side door. Since Shinji was the only person she trusted, she stuck behind him without a word and peered around with one eye since her bangs fell in front of her eye.

"Oh, Shinji! Welcome back!"

A familiar voice.

She looked up and found Mashiro peering down from a higher floor. She made eye contact with her which made the green haired woman gasp.

"He brought her over here!"

Katsuko heard movements coming from different places in the large warehouse. Slowly, more faces began appearing in her field of vision as she and Shinji stepped further inside. She didn't step out of his shadow and just kept glancing around nervously. Man, she wanted to run back outside. So many eyes. They all started jumping down to their level to meet Shinji. There was Kensei, Mashiro, the guy with the afro, a huge guy with pink hair dressed in green, a black haired woman in a school uniform with glasses, a man dressed in black and white with long blonde hair and a petite girl who wore a red jumpsuit who just looked obviously annoyed.

"So, this is Hiragi Katsuko." Shinji looked to his side where he expected her to be standing in, but didn't find her there. She was standing on the opposite side a little bit behind him just like she did with Chisaki. He eyed her for a moment when he saw her standing there impassively, training a cool expression. "Don't tell me your shy…"

"I am, actually." She deadpanned. No point in trying to hide it when it was obvious. She didn't feel ashamed either.

"Good grief…" he rolled his eyes and looked at the others. "Anyway, she's agreed to join us. Her Hollow's slow like how Rose and Hacchi's was. Gotta force it outta her."

Katsuko didn't object to when he said that she was joining them. As long as they didn't make her sign a blood contract or anything of the sort, she was still going to do what the hell she wanted and be 'one of them' (whatever that entails). At the end of the day, she was still human, she still had a home to go to, so she wasn't going to change that. If they think she was going to roll over and abandon her life, then they had a another thing coming.

The petite girl who looked flat out annoyed grunted and started making her way towards them. All eyes were on her. Shinji looked at her curiously and then let out a yelp when she shoved him out of the way with her arm. Hiyori glared up at her while Katsuko blinked a few times and averted her eyes timidly. Being shy also meant avoiding eye contact with people. Pretty rude, but she couldn't help it. She noted how she was carrying a sword on her back, a Zanpakuto. Katsuko lifted her hand and scratched her arm, unsure of how to respond to this current situation. It didn't seem like she was about to attack her so she didn't dare reach for her own Zanpakuto.

I wonder what crawled up her ass and died though...

Hiyori huffed and put a hand on her hip.

"So far, she doesn't look like she'll be worth anythin'. Unless she's got power, then she's just weak and there's no way in hell she's joinin' us. We're not carryin' around baggage here."

Katsuko didn't let anything show on her face when Hiyori said those words. And for some reason, Hiyori looked even more annoyed that there was no response from the taller girl.

Oh, don't worry, I'm not trying to be part of your gang and do what is it that you guys do. I'll just stick around until after I fix my Hollow problem and go on about my life.

Shinji growled and cradled his side. He pointed a finger at the girl. "Idiot, don't go bein' rude to Katsuko! I worked hard just to finally get her here and I'm not about to let that time go to waste!" Knowing Katsuko's personality, there could be a chance that she might just walk off if she got fed up.

Hiyori snapped her head towards him and glared at him. "Shuddup!" she lifted her leg and then reeled it back to launch a slipper at Shinji's face. It smacked him square in the face and he groaned. "You spent too long, so that hard work ain't worth shit!"

"You little—!"

She ran over to pick up her slipper and smacked him again with it, with her hand this time.

Awkwardly, Katsuko turned to look at the others who were just watching the show. A few looked over to Katsuko to see her looking silently puzzled by the current show. Her eyes were basically asking them 'what the hell is happening right now?' 'why is this girl beating Shinji with a slipper?'. The man with long blonde hair smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, this is normal." He said while waving his hand dismissively.

"… Alright."

"Anyway," Hiyori looked up from where Shinji was currently kneeling on the ground and holding his face and groaning. Katsuko deadpanned at the sight. This whole time, she assumed he was secretly someone that was super dangerous with some hidden power. She didn't think she'd see him getting beat by a slipper by someone shorter than him. "Since your Hollow won't come out and show itself yet, we'll just have to speed up the process and drag it out." She said while pointing a finger at her.

"And how will you do that?" Katsuko cocked her head and her eyes narrowed a little. Her curiosity was a bit piqued when Hiyori smirked at her confidently.

"We beat it out of you."

… What?!

"Hah?!"

They didn't even give her a heads up. As soon as Hiyori announced that they would beat the Hollow out of her, she sprinted towards her and materialized her mask before rapidly whipping out her sword from its sheath and slashing at her. Alarmed, Katsuko took out her sword and blocked the blow only to be shockingly sent flying up from the force.

She couldn't believe how much strength that midget had!

Is that what happens when she wears a Hollow mask? She gets stronger?

"What was that for?!" She snapped at Hiyori, her sword ready in to block just in case. She took a glance down below and saw how no one moved from where they stood and were simply watching. They weren't interfering nor did they look surprised.

Hiyori stood in the air like her and pointed her Zanpakuto at Katsuko and looked at her with her gold-like eyes in darkness.

"Like I said, we're beatin' the Hollow out of you. Now. We're not goin' to waste any more time on you."

Katsuko clicked her tongue.

She's seriously going to force a Hollow out of me...

The black haired teen gripped her sword tightly.

Next chapter should be done in a few days (hopefully on the Bleach trailer release date *excited*) since I had to split this one in two or else it would have been too long.

Any mistakes will be fixed later... probably after I post the next chapter.