Near Student Center.

Just as he asked what it was that Xander wanted to know, Ichigo felt a cold chill up and down his spine. And immediately after that sensation, there was a loud inhuman scream that came from the direction where they had just come from. It was the location of the stalls that were set-up on the U.C Sunnydale campus near the Student Center.

'Hollow!' Ichigo thought to himself as he looked over his shoulder to the crowd of people; men, women, and some children as well - all of whom were milling around the various stalls. He looked back at Buffy and the others who continued speaking without any interruptions. Ichigo could see and hear Xander asking a question about the Shinigami and if they were good or evil while his mind was racing away trying to come up with a good excuse to leave. Ichigo knew he didn't have time for answering any questions; if there was a Hollow in the vicinity, he really had to excuse himself before the Hollow killed anyone.

"I…."

And then there was another scream… the scream was so loud that Ichigo missed Xander's question. However, the scream from the Hollow was closer this time. Before Ichigo could do or say anything, it was Willow who surprised him by turning her head towards the direction of the Hollow's screams; towards the crowd of people near the student center a few hundred meters behind him. He glanced at the look of shock on Willow's face before looking away and staring at the table. He then looked up at Riley who was asking him about where the legends of the Shinigami began. Ichigo was ignoring those questions while he glanced at the shock on Willow's face. Her eyes were staring at the crowd behind him, and just as she shifted her gaze towards him, Ichigo looked away.

"RAWWWWWWWGGGGGHHHHH!" Ichigo widened his eyes slightly before he looked up to see Willow standing up before slightly trembling in fear. She continued to stare at the crowd. Her gaze turned towards the left in the direction of the roar while Ichigo was thinking, 'did she hear the Hollow or was she staring at something else?'

"Did anyone hear that?" Willow asked before everyone turned towards her; everyone except for Ichigo who was still staring at the table. He knew that a Hollow this close to campus was dangerous, and he needed to do something. Also, Willow's question confirmed that she had heard that scream… which also meant there was the possibility he could be seen by the redhead in his spiritual form.

And it brought about another question, 'how can she hear the Hollow's screams when not even Buffy can?' And then there was another scream from the Hollow… it was getting closer. 'But that doesn't matter now,' Ichigo thought to himself as he glanced at Willow still looking towards the direction of the scream, 'lives are at stake.'

Before anyone could say anything, Ichigo got up off his seat and said, "I've got to go to the washroom, I'll be right back." And then there was another scream… a scream that turned into a loud roar that sounded as if the Hollow was closer than before. Not wanting to waste any time, Ichigo apologized again before he huddled over while placing his hands on his abdomen. With pain – fake pain – etched in his face, Ichigo said that there must be something wrong with the fries.

"Really?" Xander said with a quizzical expression before reaching out and grabbing a couple of fries and then biting down. As he chewed, he said, "nope, the surface is still crunchy and the insides soft and fluffy." Ichigo, his face still etched in fake pain, then apologized took off running towards the building several meters in front of him. He ran towards the side entrance of the student center.

"Wait!" Willow yelled getting up from her seat when she noticed the direction Ichigo was headed. The roar was coming from there. Willow could feel it in her very soul that it was dangerous to stay where they were sitting. She felt a chill go through her bones when she realized that the others were staring at her with puzzled expressions on their faces before there was another roar; why couldn't Xander, Buffy, and Riley hear the roar. She then turned her head towards Buffy and said, "Buffy, there's.." Another roar, and this time it was so close. Willow looked up at the student center while she remained standing. She narrowed her eyes at seeing a shimmer in the air, she could just make out an outline of… well, something… while she spoke, "I hear this really bad…"

"BOOOOOM!" The Scoobies stumbled away from the table and the student center just as the side of the building exploded. Willow and the other Scoobies watched in horror as the crowd started to disperse while ash and dust rose up into the air and large chunks of debris were falling back onto the ground… specifically into the crowd of panicked and screaming people. Many in the crowd were running their way while others were running away into the other direction.

"Riley!" Willow heard Buffy yell out, "call the police!"

It was Buffy's voice that brought Willow out of her own thoughts. She, Xander, and Buffy then rushed towards the Quad where the stalls, many of which were flattened into pieces thanks to the large chunks of debris that once used to be the side of the building, were located. They could hear the cries of people who were fearful and panicking around them while the Scoobies continued to run towards the danger. There were even more people rushing out from the side entrances of the Student Center.

After seeing the flow of people fleeing the five story building, Willow then looked up at the shimmer while she continued running; ad suddenly she had a feeling of dread – she thought she saw an outline of an arm with claws. And then… all of a sudden just as the arm was about to swing down – she saw a black blur pass right by the simmer and then land onto the grass a few meters away.

Willow heard a thud, and then a scream of pain. "Shinigami!"

The redhead stopped as her eyes locked onto the figure standing on the grass looking up at the shimmer. She couldn't see the figure's face; all she could see through the panicked people running around and the falling debris was orange hair and a black robe. She could see the large cleaver-like sword in the figure's right hand.

There was another roar while Willow felt Buffy holding her arm and calling her name.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled.

But Willow couldn't answer. She felt an oppressive atmosphere falling down on her. She was finding it difficult to breathe as her heart raced… it was thundering away in her chest. She heard Xander's voice calling for her, she heard Riley calling out, "Willow!? Buffy what happened?"

"She just froze!" Willow heard Buffy yell.

The oppressive feeling was getting worse. It was pressing down in her shoulders. Willow felt as if this feeling was trying to push her onto her knees… but she forced herself to remain standing. She felt compelled to looked at the shimmer… she didn't know how long it had been… it felt like hours as she shifted her eyes toward the shimmer. And what she saw caused her breathing to quicken as a wave of fear took her over. It was a masked creature, 'or a demon, is that a demon?' it looked nothing like the masked demon in Tara's description of the attack on her.

No, this one was larger. It was as tall as the Student Center. It had a mask that looked as if it was smirking at the robed figure before it turned its massive head towards Willow. At the same time, it used one of its massive blue tinted arms to swipe at the figure as it launched an attack. The figure landed on the grass once again as he raised his sword towards the demon.

"A delicious soul! So many souls to eat!" the demon screamed as it stared directly at Willow. Willow then glanced at the figure in the black robe. The screaming and panicked people were gone now. The quad was empty with only shattered remained of the stalls, large and small chunks of debris, as well as torn posters that advertised food and the various clubs and activities in the university, were strewn all around on the grass. And then Willow's eyes settled on the surprised face looking at her. She locked her eyes with the eyes on the familiar face of the robed figure in the quad.

'Ichigo,' Willow thought to herself before she saw him flicker slightly. And then there was another scream of pain. Suddenly the oppressive atmosphere around her was gone. She felt as if it was easy to move and breathe. And so, Willow turned her head towards the monster as a black streak moved across its thick neck while it swiped its single arm at Ichigo just a second too late. All the while Willow felt Buffy shaking her arm while Xander was shaking her shoulder. Willow realized she hadn't responded to them when they asked if she was alright.

"Yeah, I… I just thought I heard something," Willow whispered as she watched Ichigo appear out of thin air at the Quad. She gulped… she didn't know whether to feel relief or a slight fear at the orange haired young man looking back at her. He was the Shinigami they were looking for… Tara did manage to give a brief description of the Soul Reaper who saved her, but she was drifting on and out of consciousness for her description to be accurate. 'Are you the one who saved her? Why didn't you say anything?'

Ichigo then flickered and before Willow knew it, he was gone. Vanished into the wind.

Willow turned her head towards Buffy and nodded her head, "I'm fine, Buffy."

"What happened?" Xander asked with worry in his voice.

Willow then explained what she saw and felt – leaving out Ichigo's involvement for now, at least until she could talk to him. What she and the others were worried about was that the Soul Reaper they were searching for could be evil. 'But Ichigo saved people,' as she spoke Willow looked around and saw that there were no dead or injured people, 'I think he stopped something worse from happening. What was that demon?' By the time she stopped talking, Willow observed the surprised expressions on the faces of her close friends.

"An invisible monster that we couldn't hear or see…" Buffy asked while motioning towards the destruction in front of them with her right arm, "but you can. And the Soul Reaper…"

"I just saw his black robe," Willow said rubbing the back of her head while they continued walking towards the quad and the debris that littered it, "I couldn't get a good look at him because of the panicked people running away, but he used this huge sword to kinda kill the demon."

"Okay," Xander said as he looked around before turning back towards the redhead, "he still here?"

"How could only you see this monster and the Soul Reaper?" Riley asked Willow who shook her head while shrugging her shoulders. Willow then said that he wasn't there in the quad with them. They were now standing in the middle of the quad facing the side of the student center.

The four scoobies could only stare in bewilderment at the huge chunk of the building's corner which looked to have been sheared off. They could stare into the inside of the top four storeys of the five-story building.

Willow gulped before saying, "that demon was about to attack again before the Soul Reaper cut off what I assume was one of the demon's arms."

Buffy then looked at Willow and said, "the demon just crumbled away?"

"Yeah," Willow replied nodding her head.

"Umm…" Riley said looking round before turning towards the damaged building while sirens were wailing in the background, "where's Ichigo?"

And just as he mentioned Ichigo's name, Willow and Buffy turned around at the sound of the side door, which was a few meters away, opening and Ichigo rushing out. He ran out while looking around before finding them standing at the Quad. "Hey!" he yelled while running over, "what happened?" Willow listened as he yelled out, "I was in the washroom when the whole building shuddered." Stopping in front of the Scoobies, his back to the great big hole in the corner of the Student Center, Ichigo continued speaking rapidly, "there was something like the sound of an explosion but I was… well… I wasn't feeling so good, plus I was kinda scared to leave."

'Right,' Willow thought to herself as Ichigo chuckled nervously.

"So, what happened?" he asked before Xander pointed towards the building behind him. Ichigo then whispered, "that's not good." Turning around, he then asked, "was there a gas leak?" Ichigo's eyes then met with Willow's eyes for a second before looking away.

"We don't know," Riley said just as the sirens got closer and closer, "I'm sure the authorities will investigate what happened."

"Yep," Buffy said.

"How about we go get something to eat, maybe off-campus," Ichigo said as he looked at Buffy and then at Xander, "I'll try to answer any questions you have about…" Ichigo turned his head towards Riley and then to Willow before ending with, "the Shinigami."

Willow nodded her head while her mind raced to come up with what questions to ask. In the meantime, Buffy nodded her head before asking if Ichigo wanted to accompany them to the Espresso Pump.

"Sure," Ichigo replied.

TBC.