A:N/ This is not abandoned! Really, it isn't! ...Well...Sorry about the extremely long ass wait.

Disclaimer: Nothing. Nothing is mine. Except for my original characters.

Chapter Three ending

"And who might you be? The better question is; what are you? Some sort of giant plushy gone wrong?" He said warily, keeping the heart-trenching fear out of his voice.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA." The monster's laugh sent chills up Hoshi's spine and he backed up even more. "It seems we have a spunky little thing here." Little! Thought Hoshi angrily, momentarily forgetting his fear. "Let's play a game kitten, you stand there, and I eat you." The monster spoke, cornering Hoshi.

"I'd rather not."

CHAPTER FOUR

Countless ideas fluttered in Hoshi's mind, all more unhelpful then the other. Feeling his heart thrumming against his chest, Hoshi's life flashed before his eyes, for what was probably the fourth time. After the quick two second flash, Hoshi couldn't help but feel that his life was bitterly unsatisfying. The deep grumble from the monster quickly cut him off from his musings and he tried not to show the deep fear that was starting to take over his body and mind.

The monster deeply inhaled, "Ah, how good your fear tastes human, tell me, will you run?" The monster tauntingly inched forward, causing Hoshi to instinctively jerk back. Wide-eyed Hoshi couldn't control his banging heart. Feeling faint, Hoshi thought how utterly weak he was.

Yelping, Hoshi's eyes widened even further, as the skeletal type hands grasped his small body in its claws, the claws lifted him from the safe haven of concrete and Hoshi felt nauseas. Feeling the monsters' putrid breath inches from his face, Hoshi's heart momentarily froze. "Say goodnight kitten." Hoshi quickly closed his eyes, anger, fear, hopelessness all crashing together inside him.

"Hollow, you will put the child down and fight me. Or will you run like the coward you are?" A voice came from above Hoshi. Confused Hoshi cracked one eye open, looking up, he noticed the fear on the monster's face before a flash of black stuck something in its mask. Before Hoshi could get even more confused the monster disintegrated in a flash of light; causing him to plummet to his other doom. Hoshi would have frowned about the unfairness of it all, if he wasn't once again paralyzed by fear.

As he neared the ground, Hoshi felt darkness start to envelop him and accepted it with open arms. Centimeters from the concrete street, Hoshi was caught by the figure in black, a sword hanging primly at its side. Frowning, the figure stared at the unconscious little boy, not knowing what to do with him. Gliding regally the figure looked around the area before finding an area of small apartments a block away from where the Hollow was destroyed. The figure sighed and shrugged settling Hoshi at the step of some random house, making sure that the contents of the home wouldn't harm the little boy. Nodding in satisfaction when he saw that the only person who lived there was a harmless cat lady; he disappeared in a blink of an eye.

The cat lady opened her door to grab the milk for her precious kitties, and she nearly screamed in surprise as the figure of Hoshi entered her vision. With curiosity almost bursting from her, she poked the child, getting a small incoherent mumble before she was met with silence once again. Giving a thoughtful hum, she bent down and almost effortlessly picked the child up. Bringing him inside her home she set him down on her tasteful crème couch, her cats coming around her and the little boy.

"I do not know my children," the cat lady mumbled to the cats "how am I supposed to find out who this child is?" The cats meowed and a silver and brown kitten pawed the bracelet hanging on a slender wrist. The cat lady carefully picked the arm up, turning over the gold unicorn pendent; the words were inscribed on the back:

If found, call ###-####

He likes Milk and hugs!

Not able to hide her snort, the cat lady asked her children to watch over the boy as she left to call the number, wondering is she should also fix a glass of milk for when the little boy woke up. Picking up the phone, she dialed the number, waiting as it rang.

"Sunhill Orphanage, this is director Yamazaki Yu speaking, how may I help you?" A woman's voice answered.

"Ah, yes this is Kumara Kaerin; I have found your…child..." The cat lady mumbled in the phone, uncomfortable with speaking with a human other than a feline.

"A small boy with long black hair?" The director asked hurriedly, slight panic and worry entering her voice. The cat lady couldn't help but sympathize; this woman must really care for her orphans.

"Yes, would you like to come pick him up?" After hearing the director's confirmation, the cat lady told the director her address. Going through the customary pleasantries, the cat lady hung up and walked back to the living room where her children were making themselves at home around the boy. A small smile graced the cat lady's face, as she went to sit by the couch where she would continue to wait for the director to pick the child up. The thought of the milk for her cats never gracing her thoughts again.

At Sunhill Orphanage

"Hyoe! I'm leaving to go pick up Hoshi. Keep the kids in line." Yu said, stumbling over herself as she tried to find her coat and keys.

"Right-o boss." Hyoe chirped, smiling.

Yu's right eye twitched, "When do you ever stop smiling?" She quipped, annoyed with the ever happy assistant director.

Hyoe looked thoughtful, "When I'm having sex." He said seriously, a smile momentarily not on his face.

Yu sputtered and tripped out the open door, "What do you think you're saying in a house full of children?" She said furiously, gaining her ground once again and spinning around to stare accusingly at the now grinning Hyoe.

"I'm saying that sex is not allowed until they know what they're doing. Oh look a spider." Hyoe pushed the squealing in fear Yu out the door before slamming it shut. Humming happily he turned back to walk to the kitchen's, the children would have a change in menu today. Instead of vegetable soup, toasted bread and cake, frog for supper sounded much better.

"Oy! Orphans! Director Yu is out, we're having frog!" He yelled happily into the air, smirking when simultaneous groans of despair filled the orphanage.

"Go suck on your lollipop, you stupid assistant director." An irate thirteen year old grumbled from the game room by the kitchens.

Hyoe let out a laugh and grinned, oh how he loved children.

Hoshi grumbled, sensing a presence hovering over his face he tried to lift an arm to swat it away, but his limbs currently were unable to move. Groggily he half opened an eye, seeing the presence and then promptly closing it again.

"Hey! Brat wakey wakey!" An ever annoying grown woman's Japanese words flowed through one of Hoshi's ears, was processed and then ignored. "Hoshi!" The woman's voice was grating on Hoshi's last nerves, and he angrily snapped his eyes open.

"What do you want woman! Can't you see I've had a hell of a day!" Hoshi felt a vein pop in irritation. Yu's cheery visage was currently hovering over the small boy and clearly enjoying the torment.

"Please, Miss Yu, Hoshi needs rest not any more disturbances." The voice of Hoshi's savior reached his ears and he turned his emerald eyes away from a retreating Yu to a calmly smiling Masaki standing in the doorway.

A puzzled frown made its way onto Hoshi's face, "How did I get to your clinic Masaki-San? Last I remember I was in a secluded street…" Hoshi stopped from mentioning the giant monster, vaguely remembering a voice calling it a Hollow. Yu, who had skulked to the corner of the room after being dismissed by Hoshi, perked up slightly and frantically waved her arm around. Hoshi and Masaki looked over at her in a mixture of exasperation and amusement.

"Yes, Yu-Chan?" Masaki asked, the sides of her eyes crinkling up as she smiled kindly.

Yu could barely contain her excitement and was bouncing on her feet, "I got a call from a nice cat lady who had found you on her doorstep. I came to pick you up, and you were unconscious so I brought you to Masaki-Chan's clinic! Feel free to grovel in thanks!" Hoshi rolled his eyes, but the amusement and gratitude in his eyes did not go unnoticed by the two women.

"Hoshi! Hoshi! I heard you fainted like a little girl!" Ichigo's happy voice entered the medical room; as he ran past the three other beds lay unoccupied next to Hoshi's. Hoshi felt like crawling under the stark white sheets of the sterile bed but he refrained from doing so and instead scowled.

"So says the idiot who gets beat up in his martial arts class by a girl." Hoshi bit back, a smirk causing his green eyes to sparkle in sadistic glee. Ichigo glared and sat at the foot of Hoshi's bed. Masaki and Yu shared a grin before both walked out the door, going unnoticed by the two arguing boys.

"You have freaky eyes!" Ichigo yelled loudly, face red in anger.

"You have porcupine hair." Harry interjected smoothly.

"Girly-boy!"

"Wimp."

"Baby!"

"(Insert word for boy who loves mother a bit too much)"

"Uh," Ichigo floundered for another insult. "..Meanie." Ichigo muttered with a resigned sigh. Hoshi sent him a rare grin, and reached forward to lightly push Ichigo in a friendly manner.

"They're both gone. Do you want to know what happened now?" Hoshi asked leaning back against the soft pillow, he glanced at the door and with slight concentration it closed slowly with a soft click.

Ichigo crawled forward and sat Indian style in front of Hoshi, "Finally!" He moaned in impatience, "I thought we were going to have to insult each other for the whole day before I got you to tell me!" Hoshi sent him a blank look. Ichigo ignored the look and asked impatiently, "So?"

Hoshi rolled his eyes, "Well, I wandered a bit off course to your house and ended up in a deserted area. Then I felt like something was wrong, and was attacked by this..." Here Hoshi trailed off, wondering if he should tell Ichigo about the creature. Sure Ichigo took his magical abilities in stride, but a giant deformed slug that could talk? Hoshi didn't doubt Ichigo would be hard pressed to believe that.

Ichigo anxiously fidgeted, "What attacked you?"

Hoshi shifted, "I'm not sure exactly…" He started off slowly, "All I know that it wasn't affected by my magic and it was some sort of giant slug with a bunch of sharp teeth," Here Hoshi paused, "oh and it had arms, which yanked me off the ground and then tried to eat me."

Ichigo gaped at Hoshi for a moment, his face a pale white that made his orange hair stand out even more. Hoshi looked at him with a blank face, though a faint trace of a fear of belittlement from Ichigo made its way into his eyes. Ichigo slowly came out of his shock state, stared at Hoshi for a long moment and then launched himself into the smaller boy's arms.

"Oh my God! I'm so glad you're alright Shi-Shi!" Momentarily stunned, Hoshi allowed himself into being manhandled by a frantic Ichigo. Ichigo's worried hands ran down his arms and face, looking for any wounds. "You don't have any wounds." Ichigo said amazedly.

Hoshi gathered himself, "Well, that is something my magic managed to help me with." Hoshi smiled at Ichigo and Ichigo grinned back, before flicking Hoshi in forehead angrily. "Ow! What the-! What was that for?" Hoshi asked indignantly, rubbing the sore spot with a slight pout.

Ichigo frowned, "You need to be more careful Hoshi! You could have died!" Hoshi glared at him and opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by Ichigo. "You just find trouble don't you?"

Hoshi looked affronted, "I'll have you know that trouble finds me!"

Ichigo snorted, "Sure Shi-Shi, sure."

Hoshi groaned, "What is it with people and nicknames?" Hoshi moaned "First Hyoe, Masaki-san, Isshin-san, and then you! I'm firmly entrenched in the belief that you can all stuff it." Hoshi muttered, as Ichigo laughed and hugged him again.

"Yu-san's right Shi-Shi, you're just too adorable."

"Shut-up you."

FINITE!