A/N: Wow. Okay, this story is... a year in the making? I think... yeah, I just checked, it has definitely been more than a year since I first started thinking/writing notes about this. And like all my stories tend to, what I imagined in the beginning isn't how it ended up here.

The chapter itself was written in the span of a week during this month's campnanowrimo. It was going to be longer, but I got tired at the end and decided that since the next bits were pretty important for Ichigo to go through, that they'd be put in the next chapter.

This is my baby, so I'm a bit nervous about letting the world see it. But excited too! Let's see how this goes, yeah?

UPDATE: 10/7/2018, I updated the story! It's been re-written to add another 10,000 words, and what was only two chapters has been spread across all four. The last half of chapter four is completely new content. I have not given up on this story whatsoever. No matter how long it takes, it will be updated! So please enjoy the updated version or iris.

Ichigo woke up, his stomach churning. It was the same anticipatory feeling he got in the face of a test.

He lay in bed for several minutes, debating whether or not to just go back to sleep. That chance was taken from him when his alarm went off. Ichigo sighed and sat up, running a hand through his hair. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen no matter what Ichigo did. With his luck, it would probably take place in his bedroom-

Ichigo paused, and then sighed. Of course. Of course I'd jinx myself. Good going, Ichigo.

He dragged himself out of bed, feeling sluggish. Ichigo went through his morning routine, and mentally complained the entire way. It took more effort than it usually did, but Ichigo managed to put his uniform on and comb his hair. Even grabbing all of his textbooks and homework into his bag took effort that it normally did not.

Thankfully he felt more awake after washing his face.

"Wake up, Karin!" Ichigo called. He knocked on the twins' door on his way downstairs. There was an answering groan in response, which was as much of a confirmation as anything. Ichigo smiled at it, knocked on the door again, and then headed downstairs.

Yuzu, of course, was already awake and making breakfast. She always was the most competent of them. "Good morning, Onii-chan!" Yuzu greeted cheerfully. She gracefully accepted the hair pat that Ichigo gave her.

"Morning," Ichigo replied and went to set the table.

He would deal with what was coming later. Whatever it was, it was something big. Ichigo wasn't hiding away, no matter how he felt. Ichigo hated feeling helpless, and did his best to ignore it when it happened. It didn't matter if it was good, bad, or neither. So, something that made him feel like sleeping the day away? Not. Good. Ichigo was going to face it head on.

"Morning," Karin yawned. She rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning, Karin-chan!" Yuzu greeted. She rubbed her cheek against her twin's, a movement Karin returned automatically.

"Go get Goat-Face," Ichigo said, amused. One of the only ways to keep Karin from face planting into breakfast was to send her to bring their father in for breakfast.

"Okay," Karin mumbled, and stumbled slightly to the clinic door where Dad was opening the clinic for the day. "Oi, Goat-Face! It's time for breakfast!" she yelled.

Sending Karin to grab their father was the only way to bring him in from the clinic, too. He didn't do much with the family unless excessive force was used. Honestly, Ichigo thought that Dad would work until he collapsed if not for any of them. 'Moderation' was not a word that Kurosaki Isshin knew.

"Good morning, my precious children!" Dad bellowed when he came inside. Karin, wisely, was already out of reach.

"Oi, Goat-Face! Watch where you're going!" Ichigo snapped at him, ducking under a frantic open-armed tackle. Ichigo placed the last of their breakfast on the kitchen table and turned to his father. "You almost made me drop the food!"

"Ah! My son is so mean to me!" Dad wailed, fake tears streaming down his face. Seriously, where did he even get that skill? The only consolation at that moment was that Dad wasn't prostate himself in front of the poster of Mom. Yet.

"Onii-chan, Otou-chan," Yuzu said mildly. She tapped her wooden spoon against the table. Ichigo immediately straightened and Dad quieted. "Breakfast is ready. Please sit down."

Ichigo sat down. Dad did as well. Karin yawned and looked ready to fall asleep again.

Breakfast continued on as normal once their morning routine complete. One of the only times that Dad was quiet around the family was when they were all eating. It was why mornings tended to be Ichigo's favorite time of the day.

"Where's Nee-chan?" Karin asked halfway through breakfast. She blinked blearily around the kitchen table. Ichigo looked fondly at her. It seemed that Karin was finally awake enough to realize that her favorite person was not there.

"She had practice," Ichigo said. Tatsuki was the president of the karate club at the high school, as well as an assistant at the dojo. She was busy with karate, but still managed to complete her schoolwork as well as having a social life. Sometimes Tatsuki scared Ichigo.

"She didn't take her lunch," Yuzu said, frowning. "I saw the bento I made her still in the fridge."

"I'll take it to her," Ichigo said. "Did she at least grab something to eat?"

Yuzu nodded. "I also made lunch for Sado-nii-chan. Please take it to him."

Chad had recently lost one of his part time jobs. Everyone took turns making him lunch so that he had something to eat for the day and so that Chad could focus on finding another job. Chad did have some pride, though, so it was a good thing that Yuzu had been the one to bring up the idea. No one could say no to her.

"Yeah, I'll take them," Ichigo said.

It didn't take long for them to finish with breakfast and clean up. Ichigo did the dishes while Karin wiped down the table. They refused to let Yuzu clean up since she was the one that cooked most often. Rather, Yuzu went to go and get ready for school.

"Stay safe, my children!" Dad yelled. He waved excitedly at the three of them until they turned the corner. Ichigo walked with his sisters every morning unless he had homeroom duties.

"I have no idea where he gets his energy from," Ichigo muttered.

Eh, it didn't matter. It was comforting how little Dad had changed over the years. He had been this excitable and energetic and loud for as long as Ichigo could remember. Dad still kept trying to pick Ichigo up and spin him around, still under the impression that Ichigo was still five.

Not that Ichigo let him, of course. He had put a stop to that when he was nine.

"How goes soccer?" Ichigo asked Karin.

"They're still being annoying!" Karin frowned.

"They still aren't letting Karin-chan make the co-ed team," Yuzu said. She sounded disappointed in the establishment, which. Ha.

Ichigo hummed. "Well, don't let their stupidity stop you. Continue working at it. You're Kurosaki. They'll give in eventually."

"You and Nee-chan will help, right?" Karin asked.

"Of course," Ichigo smirked. "But don't sell yourself short, Karin." Ichigo knew that Karin could, and would, deal with the situation on her own if prompted. Ichigo and Tatsuki wouldn't need to help whatsoever, but they would keep an eye on her.

"I'll try my best to help!" Yuzu said cheerfully. By which she meant that if someone died of say, poisoning, not to be surprised.

Yuzu wouldn't actually kill someone. Hopefully. Maybe. Eh…

"Please don't kill anyone," Ichigo said. Not that they wouldn't all vouch for Yuzu if they had to, but still. Killing people generally invited their spirits to haunt you. And they all had enough spirits haunting them already. There was no need to be bringing more into their lives.

"If anyone in this family ends up a murderer, it's going to be me," Karin said flatly, staring at them both. "I'm the one that has to deal with these people."

"No one is going to kill anyone," Ichigo said, "Because then they will haunt you. And that will be annoying."

Karin scrunched her nose. She looked adorable, like a bunny. Ichigo would never tell her that. Karin would never take it lying down. And Karin could be vicious when she felt wronged. "Killing someone twice does seem like too much effort," she allowed.

"Can you even kill a spirit?" Yuzu asked curiously.

Yuzu couldn't see spirits, really. She could hear them, though. Often before either Ichigo or Karin could. They didn't know what Yuzu could see if not for human spirits, though, since she had too much reiatsu to not see anything at all. Ichigo figured that they would all find out one day. Not in Karakura, though, since Yuzu said she didn't see much of anything.

"Probably," Ichigo said, shrugging. "Hollows are spirits, and we kill those just fine. I don't know what happens afterwards though."

"Huh," Yuzu said. She looked pensive.

Whoops.

"You're too young to be a mad scientist," Ichigo said, and rubbed Yuzu's hair. He looked at Karin, eyebrow raised. "You too, Karin. Wait until you're both thirteen. At least. No murders, experiments, or anything that can be tried under Japanese law until you're both teenagers. Or, better yet, past high school."

Education was important, damn it all. Ichigo would never decide what Karin and Yuzu should do with their lives. The twins were their own people. But that did not mean that Ichigo would let them do everything they absolutely wanted, either. At least, not until they became legal adults and fully able to take care of themselves. And even then Ichigo would make sure to keep an eye on them.

"Yeah, yeah," Karin said and rolled her eyes. "It sounds like too much effort anyways. To be a serial killer, I mean."

"I'll be good, Onii-chan!" Yuzu assured.

Sometimes Ichigo wondered if they were all crazy, to talk about life and death so casually. Then he would imagine Uryū rolling his eyes at Ichigo's dramatics and tell Ichigo that as long as he was in good company, he'd be fine.

The rest of the walk to the elementary school passed quietly. Despite how Ichigo felt when he woke up, it was a beautiful day. Even this early in the morning, Ichigo could tell that it would be enjoyable. Maybe he could get Chad to visit for dinner.

Maybe Ichigo would visit Naomi today.

"Goodbye, Onii-chan!" Yuzu said, "Have a nice day at school!"

"See you," Karin added.

"Yeah. Be good, okay?" Ichigo said. He rubbed his hands through both of their hair. Karin made a show of swatting his hands away, but Ichigo knew better.

Ichigo waited by the elementary school's gates until Yuzu and Karin were safely inside. Once they were halfway to the main entrance, he left. A couple of the other students who recognized him smiled and waved. Most of them recognized him as Yuzu and Karin's older brother, so they knew that he was safe. That he would protect them from all of the monsters that adults didn't think were real.

It was something that Ichigo delighted in, and it never failed to make his day.

"Kurosaki!" someone yelled during Ichigo's trek to the high school.

Ichigo momentarily paused, but continued on. Nah. Not happening. Ichigo had enough to worry about today without some random thugs trying to ruin whatever happiness he got by being around his sisters.

Oblivious walking it was.

"What do you want?" Ichigo asked as he walked. They would either catch up or be left behind. Ichigo really did not care.

"You messed with the wrong crowd yesterday, you punk!" someone else said Well, Ichigo thought it was someone else. The voice sounded vaguely different… eh. Ichigo really did not give a shit.

Ichigo blinked. "Uh, who?" he asked. He genuinely did not remember. Not that he was paying attention to these guys to remember them. Too many people decided that Ichigo was worth fighting for him to try to remember them.

Seriously. His mother was a quarter German. So what if a quirk of genetics left Ichigo with bright red hair and freckles? It wasn't that interesting. The freckles were a family thing. And the red hair had precedent, anyways. Ichigo remembered that his mother had the prettiest brown hair that would turn vaguely red in the summer.

There was a roar of outrage behind him. Ichigo sighed and ducked. He brought up his elbow up and back. He hit someone in the gut, and they let out a grunt of pain. Ichigo continued moving forward, throwing anyone that tried tackling him into the ground.

They never learned. Ichigo wasn't even trying.

"Are you guys done?" Ichigo asked exasperatedly. He glanced behind him. Oh, they were all on the ground now. "I guess you are," he said.

Hmm. The rest of the walk to school would be peaceful then. Or as peaceful as it ever got. None of the thugs had even pulled a knife on him today! A good morning, Ichigo thought, pleased.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue greeted.

"Oh, morning Inoue," Ichigo returned. He smiled when they caught up with each other. "I keep forgetting that you live in this area."

"It's because I spend so much time at Tatsuki-chan's house!" Inoue said cheerfully. "I saw those people attacking you. Are you okay?" she asked.

Ichigo snorted. "I'm fine. They didn't even have a knife on them."

Inoue looked curious. "Really? The ladies that keep trying to attack Tatsuki-chan learned to always bring a knife with them earlier this year."

"I think I beat one of them up yesterday?" Ichigo offered, "But they went down so easily that I'm not sure I'd remember them. Even if my life depended on it."

"That's true," Inoue agreed. She was well aware of Ichigo's continuous problems with faces and names. "Your throws were beautifully done, by the way," she said approvingly.

Ichigo flushed. He always flushed when someone he knew was good at what they did complimented him. Tatsuki may have been the one to start training Inoue, but it was Inoue that decided to continue her training. Inoue knew karate just as Tatsuki and Ichigo did, but focused on Judo. Tatsuki and Ichigo would beat Inoue in a straight fight, as Inoue's gentle heart made it hard for her to move offensively. That did not mean that Inoue reached black belt by being lazy.

"Thanks," Ichigo said.

"No problem!" Inoue chirped, "Oh yeah. Tatsuki-chan texted me. She said that she forgot lunch."

"She did," Ichigo confirmed, "Yuzu packed Tatsuki and Chad's lunch today."

"Oh!" Inoue smiled, "Tomorrow is my turn to cook for Sado-kun, right?"

"Yeah. As spicy as you can make it," Ichigo said. Because Chad was a masochist and loved spicy foods. Not that Ichigo didn't, Chad just took it to an extreme.

"As always!" Inoue agreed, "I love cooking for Sado-kun! He's the only one that appreciates the fire."

"I have no idea why you like your food that hot," Ichigo said.

"You are just weak," Inoue sniffed imperiously. The effect was ruined by her poorly hidden smile.

Ichigo and Inoue bantered the rest of the way to school. Tatsuki was the one that brought Inoue into the Kurosaki family fold, and Inoue fit perfectly. It seemed that the Kurosaki family gathered all of the strange ones. Not that Ichigo was complaining. If he were surrounded by normal people, he'd go crazy from absolute boredom.

"You are miraculously not late," Uryū said by way of greeting when Ichigo and Inoue reached homeroom. He didn't even raise his head from his sewing, the asshole. "Did you get attacked today?"

"Good morning to you too," Ichigo said and rolled his eyes. Why Uryū was one of his favorite people, Ichigo didn't know.

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun got jumped!" Inoue assured, "They just weren't very good."

"That's nice to hear," Uryū said. He still didn't look up from his work. "I was afraid that I ended up in a parallel dimension by accident."

"I'd think that you'd figure that out very quickly, Ishida-kun," Inoue said.

"Thank you," Uryū said. And then he finally looked up. "Good morning, Inoue-san."

"Good morning, Ishida-kun!" Inoue returned brightly.

"Fuck you too," Ichigo said when he sat down. Uryū just smirked at him. Seriously. Asshole.

"Good morning," Chad rumbled quietly not a second later. His arrival stopped Ichigo from hitting Uryū upside the head.

Dammit. Uryū was better at sensing spiritual energy than Ichigo was. He definitely planned that.

Wait, no. Ichigo did not care. He hit Uryū upside the head. Uryū frowned at him, but Ichigo just stuck his tongue out.

"Morning," Ichigo said, and smiled at Chad. He held out his fist, which Chad gracefully turned into a fist bump. "You get jumped today?"

"Yes," Chad said, and sat down. "None of them had a weapon."

Ichigo whistled. "It seems that today is the day of useless fighters. None of the people that tried jumping me had anything on them either."

"They didn't even try attacking him differently!" Inoue said, frowning. She looked very much like a disappointed parent. Ha. For all her being a pacifist, she was remarkably comfortable with violence. "Why would you all tackle someone that already showed that he could use your momentum against you?"

"Because they're all idiots, that's why," Tatsuki said as she stormed into the room. Her hair was damp from the shower she had taken. Hm. Tatsuki normally didn't make a sound when walking. Probably a bad practice. One of the other students must have been an idiot.

"Here. You forgot your lunch," Ichigo said and handed Tatsuki her bento.

"Thanks," Tatsuki said reverently, as one always should when presented with Yuzu's cooking. She put it away in her desk.

"Yuzu made you lunch too, Chat," Ichigo said. He held out the box for Chad to take.

Chad paused for a second before taking the bento gracefully. There wasn't any sign of protest, either. Ichigo refrained from smiling. Ichigo knew that Yuzu was scary, but it was always gratifying to see how other people reacted to her.

"Thank her for me, please," Chad said.

"You can always tell her yourself, you know," Tatsuki said. She leaned back in her chair and put her feet in Ichigo's lap, legs extended across the small aisle between their seats. Her recent growth spurt made her legs long enough to do that. "The twins adore you. They'll be happier if you visit more often."

"I don't wish to intrude," Chad said.

"If you don't, they'll resort to kidnapping you," Uryū said mildly.

"Thanks," Ichigo said dryly, "Kidnapping him will be harder now."

"I can carry him!" Inoue offered. Ha. Inoue totally could, too, which was the best part.

"Yeah, but no really," Ichigo said, "You really should come around more often Chad. Your apartment is nice and all, but it must suck living by yourself."

It would also help them keep a better eye on Chad. He could take care of himself pretty well, but having him around more often would make Ichigo worry less. Having Chad around more often in general would be great, too. Chad was Ichigo's best friend.

Chad didn't look entirely convinced. The guy really didn't like inconveniencing others. Still, from the look on his face, Chad definitely remembered Yuzu. And Ichigo knew that Chad wanted to be around them more, even if he never said so. "Yeah, okay," Chad agreed.

Ichigo grinned. "Great!"

Their homeroom teacher came in not soon after. She looked at Ichigo and the others with a practiced glare. Eh. Ichigo had known her for a while now. She wasn't as much of a harass as she liked to pretend.

School was great at distracting Ichigo. He didn't like sitting down for long periods of time, but he was invested in learning new things. For one, new knowledge was always great. For another, the process had kept Ichigo distracted after his mother died. And then the habit just stuck.

Of course, Ichigo could distract himself. But he would never be able to lie to himself.

Nor would he ever be able to lie to his friends.

"Okay," Tatsuki said when they all sat down for lunch. The roof was crowded. Uryū, Inoue, Chad, Mizuiro, and Keigo were all there. The latter two looking concerned was kind of horrifying by itself. "Spill."

"Spill what?" Ichigo asked. Tatsuki knew practically everything about him. She could be demanding something completely unrelated to the situation just to fuck with him.

"You've been off since this morning," Uryū said and rolled his eyes. "Obviously something happened."

Ichigo paused, and thought about how to describe the sensation. "Ah, nothing happened, technically… but I feel like something is going to happen?" he offered.

Uryū sighed, like Ichigo was being difficult on purpose. "Of course it is."

"Do you have any idea what it is?" Inoue asked, concerned.

"No," Ichigo said, and ran a hand through his hair. Stupid nervous habits. "It'll happen though. Probably in my bedroom. Because that is just how my life works."

"Of course you'd jinx yourself," Uryū said. He smirked, the asshole. Maybe Ichigo had been too lenient lately on making Uryū suffer.

"If none of us are around for it," Tatsuki said, "You'd better tell us."

Ichigo snorted. Like he'd be able to keep a secret even if he wanted to. "When wouldn't I?"

"Never," Chad stated simply.

"Oh, you had better not," Uryū said.

Tatsuki hummed. "Okay, that's out of the way. What's everyone doing after school?" she asked.

"I think I'll visit Naomi," Ichigo said.

Little Naomi, dead for the past two years. He'd found her not too long after she had died, checking to see if her spirit had stayed or moved on after her death. Since she was still there, Ichigo had taken to visiting her every so often.

"I'd join you, but I have work today," Uryū said, and frowned. He liked Naomi, for whatever value of 'like' Uryū gave people.

"Is Naomi-chan any closer to moving on?" Inoue asked.

Ichigo shook his head. "Not that we're aware of. She's sticking around because she wants to look after her little brother. He doesn't have any spiritual power, but I guess that they were close enough that he can feel her." Kind of. And what he couldn't do on his own, Ichigo could help out with. Sometimes having an overabundance of spiritual energy was helpful.

"I'll go and get her some new flowers when I'm not so busy," Tatsuki said. She was fond of Naomi.

"Oh, me too!" Inoue said.

"Yeah, she'd like that," Ichigo said.

The flowers that Ichigo had left Naomi the last time he was here were knocked over when he got there.

"Once-chan?" Naomi asked, blinking up at him.

"Hey, Naomi," Ichigo greeted absentmindedly. He was angry, and his control was terrible enough that Naomi likely felt it. Not that she was reacting in any particular way. Naomi had been exposed to his spiritual energy for long enough that it would take more output than he was leaking now to affect her negatively.

"Are you okay?" Naomi asked.

"I should be the one asking you," Ichigo said. Naomi loved those flowers. And they served a practical purpose that had been interrupted. "Who were the ones that knocked your offering over?"

"Those guys," Naomi said, and pointed behind Ichigo.

She said it so nonchalantly. Ichigo, for a brief moment, silently marveled at how vicious all of the women in his life could be. Naomi had to know that setting him on anyone that discomforted her would practically be a death sentence. And then he turned around.

Skateboarders, apparently, were the ones that knocked Naomi's offering down. Not very good ones, either. None of them looked particularly smart. Even now they were carless in where they went. It was lucky that there were no other people walking down this street; Ichigo was certain that any other bystanders would have been run over by now.

"Idiots," Ichigo grumbled.

"Onee-chan," Naomi said and blinked guilelessly up at them. "Can you scare them away?"

Ichigo glanced at her. He was too used to his sisters to fall for it, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't do what she wanted. He was angry enough not to particularly care. "Yeah, sure."

And, because they were idiots who likely wouldn't realize what happened until it had already passed, Ichigo announced his presence by taking one of them down. The guy landed on the ground with a satisfying thud. After a second, blood started leaking from his mouth.

"Why don't you guys get the fuck outta here?" Ichigo said, voice dropping. He had a good gravelly voice when he bothered to try. Ichigo made sure that his face was stony, and that he broadcasted his irritation clearly. People like this tended to be shit at body language and needed the obvious cues.

"What the-" one of the skaters shouted, and looked between the bloodied guy on the ground to Ichigo.

"You! You suddenly appear and take out Yama, and then you tell us to leave?" another shouted.

"Do you want to die?!" the last shouted.

Ichigo just stared them all down. He scratched behind his ear, utterly bored of their yelling. They always shouted the same things at him with no variety whatsoever. He could probably recite everything they yelled by heart. They'd run out of things to say eventually.

Finally, one of them got bored with posturing and ran at him yelling, "Say something, you-"

Ichigo lifted his leg and watched with utter satisfaction as the thug ran face first into Ichigo's foot. The sudden impact created a satisfying thud that had the other skaters all staring. Ichigo felt his hips flex with the motion, but it wasn't anything Ichigo wasn't used to.

Ichigo was viciously pleased when the thug fell to the ground in a heap. Pity that their nose didn't look broken. Well, that was at least one less person to make noise. Even if the mess was a problem.

Oh, wait. The other skater thugs were babbling. Something about… dying? Ichigo listened and then snorted. Accusing him of irrational violence? Yeah, right. Ichigo didn't deny that he resorted to violence when prompted, but it was never irrational. Now, Tatsuki, Tatsuki could be irrationally violent. And so could Uryū under the right circumstances. No, Ichigo was perfectly rational whenever he decided to fight someone.

"Shut up!" Ichigo snapped. He used the thug at his feet's head as a footrest. "Look over there!"

"Wha-"

"Question one!" Ichigo yelled, and pointed to Naomi's offering. The situation was amusing, even if he didn't have to fake his anger. "You! The skinny looking one! What does that look like?"

The guy had the gall to look meek. What the hell. "A-an offering? To the kid who died here?"

Irritated, Ichigo knocked the guy out with a roundhouse kick. Beautifully done, too, he usually didn't kick that gracefully. Tatsuki would be proud. "Good answer!"

The two remaining skaters started worrying over that one too. What the hell was his name… Man. Ichigo didn't even care but the cutesy nickname wasn't helping any. Seriously, these guys!

"Question two!" Ichigo demanded, which brought the skaters' attention back to him. He used a calmer voice. Ichigo saw them flinch at his tone and smirked mentally. Good. "Why is the offering knocked over?"

"That's because…" the skater that spoke trailed off and glanced at the others. Wait. Did they really have to think about it? Ichigo knew they were stupid, but there were levels. Sorry, Ichigo was irritated again. "We knocked it over… skateboarding?"

"I see," Ichigo said flatly.

This part would be tricky, and would require Naomi's help. Luckily she knew what to do, having been part of all of their experiments in the past. Naomi had drifted over to hover behind his shoulder, careful not to be immediately touching him.

Ichigo had enough spiritual energy to do this. That wasn't in question. It was well known that Ichigo didn't have the necessary control to hide his spiritual presence from anyone. Uryū had even said that Ichigo was such a constant presence that the last time Uryū had left Karakura, he had mildly panicked at how bare the rest of the world was.

So, Ichigo had a lot of spiritual energy. He could do spells. And, unlike the majority of the Quincy, Ichigo could cast spells without even using the gintō most Quincy did.

Seals, in general, were easier. So were the ofuda. They were generally ink, slapped onto a surface, with paper being the most common, fueled by intent and power. Both of which Ichigo had in spades. And which defined Ichigo in general, honestly. Spells and techniques, which had a matrix that needed to be followed to be viable? Blew up in Ichigo's face. Things, like seals, that only needed energy shoved at them to work? Easy.

So, making Naomi visible was something that Ichigo had practice in. Ichigo had started when Tatsuki expressed interest in meeting her, and Tatsuki was the only one that Ichigo knew who wasn't able to interact with Naomi in any way. So, with Naomi willing, Ichigo and Uryū had experimented. Through trial and error, they had figured out that shoving enough spiritual energy at a spirit would let that spirit be visible enough to those without spiritual energy. After all, every living thing was composed of spiritual energy. Few just had enough of it themselves to see it.

It wasn't an attack, so it did no damage. And after the first time, it created a seal that allowed bringing her to view easier and easier. Generally, Ichigo only gave Naomi enough energy to be seen by Tatsuki and Yuzu. And they only needed a partial image to see and hear Naomi. Anyone else saw her as they saw physical people.

This was a bit more than just see through.

"Then shouldn't you apologize to her?" Ichigo demanded, and pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Naomi. He was immediately gratified to hear them all shriek in terror at her appearance. It was times like this that Ichigo remembered that a child covered in blood was actually pretty horrifying.

As the skaters babbled horrified apologies and promises to never do it again, they sprinted away as fast as possible. Ichigo let Naomi fade from physical view, glad that they at least had the sense to grab their fallen friends and drag them along with them. There was still some blood stain on the sidewalk, but that was fine.

Ichigo sighed. "If we scared them that much, they probably won't be coming back again."

Naomi drifted past his shoulder, moving to hover in front of Ichigo. She clasped her hands behind her back. "Thank you, Onee-chan," she said. She was remarkably pleased by the skaters leaving.

"Sorry I had to use you like that," Ichigo offered. Naomi was wiling, and trusted him, but that didn't mean being used like that was good. Especially since being used in a spell was by not means comfortable. It didn't hurt- Ichigo had made certain of that- but it was the principle of the thing.

Naomi only shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'm the one who asked, so I should be willing to help at least that much."

Ichigo smiled. She really was a good kid. Then he looked at the sky, and then his watch. "Oh, shit, I'm going to be late. I'll bring you a new offering again soon, okay? And maybe with Tatsuki and Inoue."

"Okay!" Naomi agreed cheerfully. "Thanks, Onee-chan."

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo said and patted Naomi on her head. He felt blood sticking to his hand, but knew from experience that it wasn't actually there. It wasn't the most pleasant of feelings, but Naomi deserved nice things occasionally. "Hurry up and move on, will you?" he teased, fully aware that Naomi would not.

"Good night, Onee-chan!" Naomi called as Ichigo walked off. He waved at her as he turned a corner.

It was already almost seven. Considering that Ichigo was going to be late anyways, Ichigo decided to enjoy the walk back home. Dad would try attacking him anyways. Yuzu, he was worried about. He hated worrying her, and being late for dinner usually counted.

Ichigo did manage to talk with another couple of spirits on his way home. Karakura was a hotbed for spiritual energy, so spirits tended to stick around more often. There were spirits in residence that had been around since before his mother was born. They were actually the ones that brought up that Yuzu might see other things.

One of the tasks that his mom taught Ichigo and Uryū to do was to check on those spirits. Despite their age and growing power, they were still human spirits that needed to be protected from hollows. So, Ichigo and Uryū maintained the wards dotted around Karakura designed specifically for them.

Ichigo didn't have the time now, but spirits also tended to be more helpful when the Living remembered them.

Naomi didn't exist very far, and it didn't take lone for Ichigo to make it home. He was still late, but even his more casual walk wasn't as long as some routes. He ignored the clinic entrance, which had a CLOSED sign posted over the glass window. Their house had a side door.

"I'm home!" Ichigo called.

And then ducked as Dad attempted to kick his head off of his shoulders.

"You are late, you ungrateful son of mine!" Dad bellowed, and pointed at Ichigo.

"Don't try to kick my head off when I get through the door and I wouldn't have to be ungrateful, you shitty father!" Ichigo yelled right back.

That sparked some irritation in his dad. Not that it took much. Dad felt too much too easily sometimes. There was a half second of blessed calm before… well. It devolved into a brawl. Because Dad was an utter child and Ichigo tended to feed off that energy.

"Onii-chan! Otou-chan!" Yuzu said, voice just heard above the noise of their fight.

Ichigo stopped. He got a fist to his jaw for his trouble, but he did! Dad took a second longer to register that Yuzu had spoken.

"Yes, my adorable and flawless daughter?" Dad asked. He was always quick with praise for Yuzu, as was given, but he took different tones for different situations. He looked and sounded sheepish, which he damn well should.

"Dinner is ready. Please let Onii-chan up," Yuzu said.

Dad scrambled to get of of the floor and to sit at the table. Calm Yuzu, when normally she would be worried or flustered at their fighting, is terrifying on a level that Ichigo can't explain. At least it's not directed at him this time.

Ichigo sat up and rubbed his jaw. Hm. Bruised, but nothing that wouldn't disappear in a couple of days. Eh. Not the worst fight that Ichigo and Dad have ever gotten in. Yuzu must have just wanted it to stop before escalating to that point.

"You okay, Ichi-nii?" Karin asked. Neither twin had bothered to wait for Ichigo or Dad to sit down before eating. Probably a good thing.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. He rolled his shoulders and then sat down.

Dinner, as always, was a lively affair. Ichigo and Yuzu tried to get Karin to emote beyond tired. Yuzu tried to keep the peace around that. Dad was loud and boisterous and made everything hard on them. It was routine.

"Um," Yuzu said halfway through the meal. She looked hesitant. "Onii-chan?"

"Yeah?" Ichigo asked.

"You've got another ghost," Karin said. She pointed her chopsticks at it. "Kind of pathetic looking, too."

Ichigo sighed and looked over his shoulder, unsurprised that he didn't notice. He tended to ignore ghosts that latched onto him since it happened so often. The ghost did look pathetic. It wasn't that they were wearing a suit and the nerdiest pair of glasses that ichigo had ever seen, either. It was that they were curled in on themselves, what solid lines they had were squiggly, and how nervous they appeared.

They were also attached at his shoulder.

"What the hell, dude!" Ichigo said, "Go away! We're eating!" Ichigo tried to push the spirit off. What the hell was so unique about his spiritual energy that spirits tended to stick to him like glue? They didn't do that to Uryū!

'It's because you have really bad control, Ichigo' the Uryū of his head said. Even in Ichigo's head he was an asshole. Correct, of course, but still!

"But you can see me!" the spirit wailed, "that means you can help me, right?" Oh, gods, the spirit didn't even have the arms to rub his hands together nervously.

"No, I can't," Ichigo said. He really, really, can't. No one he knew had the ability to help spirits move on. They sometimes did on their own, but he didn't know how. "Go away," he said. And then blinked when the spirit did just that. Huh. Well, at least they weren't there to bother him anymore.

"You got rid of them?" Yuzu asked. She squinted, trying to see. "I can't hear them anymore."

"Yeah," Ichigo said, just as curious. "Somehow."

"They'll be back, I bet," Karin muttered. "They never stay away."

"Unfortunately," Ichigo agreed.

Dad looked sad to be left out. Ichigo paid him no mind. Dad was always sad that he couldn't interact with the world that Mom and Ichigo did on a daily basis. Tough luck, because Dad also never expressed any interest in knowing any more than he did by osmosis either.

"I've got homework," Ichigo said after dinner was done. "Thank you for the food." He waited a moment to see whether Yuzu needed help doing dishes.

"Good night, Onii-chan," Yuzu said, allowing Ichigo to head upstairs. "Otou-chan, can you help me with the dishes?"

Ichigo left them to it. Dad was always energetic and willing to help whenever they asked for it. Yuzu just happened to be the only one of them that asked for it. Sad, but Ichigo was used to being self-sufficient. Besides, whatever he needed help with he had Tatsuki, Uryū, Inoue, Chad there.

Halfway through his English homework, Ichigo paused when his immediate sensing area warped.

Then the black butterfly flittered into his room.

It was unlike anything that Ichigo had ever seen. The black wasn't so much as black as it was a lack of light, the inkiness so deep that it looked as if it were absorbing light. His eyes were drawn to that emptiness, unable to look away despite its sheer impossibility. Somehow, delicate purple patterns adorned its wings, giving shape to what was otherwise a black blob. The purple shimmered like thread dipped in dew.

Ichigo blinked and rubbed his eyes. Looking too long hurt.

And then a spirit walked through his bedroom wall.

Thankfully, they didn't hurt Ichigo's brain like the butterfly did. But the spirit had been following the butterfly. For what reason, Ichigo couldn't tell. Their clothes were traditional, in almost entirely black. Their hakama were black enough that Ichigo could see the shape of the creases from the light reflected off of them.

The sword, though, was interesting.

The spirit didn't acknowledge Ichigo. They kept walking through his room, muttering to themselves. And obviously they were aware; Ichigo had seen spirits that walked aimlessly and unaware of the world around them. This spirit was definitely not one of those. Besides, they were maneuvering through Ichigo's room with ease.

Ichigo frowned and stood up. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, wary. Because if they were in his room, then something was up. Especially with that butterfly.

His room. Ichigo refrained from cursing at his ceiling, but it was a near thing. Dammit! Ichigo knew that something like this would happen!

The spirit ignored him. Which never happened before. Ichigo would normally be extremely happy about this turn of events, but these weren't normal circumstances. For one, there were wards in place that stopped spirits from just walking in. They had to be brought in by Ichigo, Karin, or Yuzu. This spirit seemed to ignore those.

"Oi!" Ichigo shouted. "I said, what are you doing?" And then he kicked the spirit on the backside. They were very small compared to him, about Yuzu's size, so even that sent them sprawling forward.

"What-" the spirit stuttered. They turned to look at him. Wait, no, not at him. Around him. What? "What happened?"

"I kicked you," Ichigo said flatly.

"You?" the spirit sat up straight and stared at Ichigo in clear shock. "You can see me?"

"Yes," Ichigo drawled. Where was this spirit from, then, that they hadn't been in contact with anyone that could see them? Ichigo glared and asked again, "What are you doing?"

"You should not be able to see me," the spirit said. They were still staring, and now Ichigo was going from suspicious and irritated to just pissed off.

Ichigo managed to not growl. He did roll his eyes though. "Yeah, yeah, human, whatever. I've heard it before." He hasn't actually. Most spirits tended to accept the fact that he could see them pretty quickly. "I'll ask again. What are you doing?"

"I am a shinigami!" the spirit said. They did recover from their blatant shock remarkably quick. Ichigo, though, immediately hated the shinigami. That tone they used was… well. The spirit made Uryū look humble.

Wait. Bad comparison. Uryū was proud of his heritage, same as Ichigo was. That didn't mean that Uryū thought he was better than anyone else. No matter what he acted like at times. Uryū was not that kind of asshole.

"Really?" Ichigo asked flatly.

"Yes," the spirit- shinigami, apparently- said. "I cam from the Soul Society on a mission to exterminate an evil spirit."

"Okay," Ichigo said. He nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. I don't believe you."

"What?" the shinigami asked, visibly dumbfounded.

Ichigo rolled his eyes again. "I have never seen shinigami before. And I've been able to see spirits my entire life. I also tend not to believe anything delusional spirits say. Especially not ones that trespass."

"You!" the shinigami shrieked in outrage. Oh, now they looked offended. And with their offense, Ichigo felt the rise in spiritual power. Oh shit. "Baukdō, Number One! Sai!"

Ichigo felt the shinigami's spiritual energy wrap around him, cool to the touch and chilling Ichigo through. His arms snapped behind him, held together by what felt like invisible rope. His legs were brought together and refused to move. And then Ichigo fell to the ground with a solid thump.

Spells. The shinigami had enough spiritual energy to cast spells? Different types of spirits had different levels of energy- this, Ichigo had been taught early. But never had Ichigo met a spirit that could cast spells before.

"Do you believe me now?" the shinigami said, smirking. Either Uryū and this spirit would get along infamously or hate each other on sight. Right now, Ichigo was hoping for hate. "Only a shinigami can use such advanced techniques."

Advanced my ass, Ichigo thought. He was used to binding spells being used on him. Uncle Ryūken had been a vicious taskmaster when he still taught them. Uryū definitely took up the slack now that they were teenagers. Ichigo was almost intimately aware of what binding spells felt like. Familiar with this routine, Ichigo used his spiritual energy to test the shinigami's spell.

Huh. The spell felt week, like twine against his skin. Did they rank their spells with numbers? Number one for a really weak spell? Either way, Ichigo could tell that he would be able to break free with some judicious use of spiritual energy and some plain old brute force.

"Unfortunately, there are Laws in place that prevent me from killing a human without permission," the shinigami said. They pouted as if not killing Ichigo was something that they truly regretted not being able to do. Well. Definitely a strong spirit, then. Stronger spirits tended to have a skewed sense of morality.

Then the shinigami pulled their sword from its sheathe. Ichigo held still, wary, and ready to break free. Just because the shinigami said that they couldn't kill him without breaking some Laws- and he had heard that capitalization- it didn't mean that they couldn't hurt him. And there were a lot of things humans could survive that wouldn't kill them.

But the shinigami wasn't reaching for Ichigo, or even holding their sword blade first. They were reaching, with the hilt, for the pathetic looking spirit still attached to Ichigo. He watched the shinigami press the hilt of their sword against the pathetic spirit's forehead. Ichigo frowned when he saw the sigil appear, glowing against spirit-pale skin. Ichigo was at the wrong angle to see it properly, though he could tell that it was a seal of some sort.

"I…" the spirit stuttered. Tears started forming at the corner of their eyes. "I don't wanna go to hell…"

"You are not going to hell," the shinigami said. Ichigo was more dumbfounded by the fact that the shinigami was capable of smiling kindly then what was currently happening. "I am sending you to Soul Society. It is a peaceful place."

The sigil warped the spirit. Their solid, if squiggly outline, started fading. It was like the spirit was fading from reality, or from Ichigo's vision. Then the sigil started pulling, and like a vacuum, pulled the spirit into it. Because of Ichigo's close proximity to the spirit, it pulled some of his spiritual energy in, too.

The sigil flashed and faded briefly before turning into a black butterfly. Ichigo frowned. It was… otherworldly, and ink-dark, but it was not the same butterfly that had led the shinigami into his room. It didn't hurt his head as much to look at.

The butterfly started flapping its wings and slowly flittered away. Rather than simply heading out the window, like the first butterfly had arrived, it… sparkled. Ichigo really had no other way to describe it. The gossamer of its wings started sparkling like diamonds were impeded into the black. And then it just disappeared.

Ichigo stared. "What was that?" he asked, voice quiet from surprise. Not that he had forgotten his irritation. Ichigo just happened to be good at multi-tasking.

"A Soul Burial," the shinigami said. Ichigo heard the capitals there. The shinigami sheathed their sword again. "It is one of my duties as a shinigami. Humans call it 'moving on' from what I have been able to gather."

"Not all spirits stay around," Ichigo disagreed, almost automatically. And shinigami could not be grim reapers. Those things waited by people's bedsides to take their souls after they died. And grim reapers didn't exist, anyways. For one, Ichigo would remember seeing them.

"No, they don't," the shinigami agreed. Then they looked at Ichigo in surprise. "Those that move on immediately after death arrive in Soul Society on their own. Those that stay after death require help. And… those that stay for far too long turn bad."

"Bad?" Ichigo echoed. Did they mean hollows?

Suddenly, the shinigami sat down on the floor and pulled out a sketchbook and a marker. Ichigo really didn't want to know where those came from. It sure wasn't from their person. A hammer space?

"It is like this," the shinigami said as they started to draw. Ichigo stared in confusion. "There are two types of spirits here in the World of the Living. The first we call plus, which are simply spirits that have yet to move on. They are the ghosts that you normally see. The second we call minus, more commonly known as hollows. They are evil spirits that attack both the Living and the Dead to eat their souls."

The shinigami turned their sketchbook to Ichigo.

Ichigo stared for a long moment, because what the fuck was kind of echoing in his head. "…That is a horrible drawing," Ichigo said eventually. Because why not. "Cute, really, but you're using the same symbol for both the plus and the hollow. It's only because I'm staring at it for long enough that I can tell them apart."

Karin would be horrified. Contrary to how she acted, Karin adored cute things. And this type of art style wasn't good for any kind of presentation. At least, not without some better illustrations. Ichigo could almost hear Karin lecturing about how cute was good, but refusing to expand on it was ruining the effect.

The shinigami stared at Ichigo. They looked somewhere between furious and confused at his explanation. It was actually kind of funny. What, were they only used to people insulting their work? Karin had trained that out of him when she was like, eight.

Of course the shinigami had to draw a fucking mustache on Ichigo's face. The shinigami had the gall to look completely pleased with themselves, too. Ichigo growled as he tried wiping his face on the floor.

"Shinigami have two duties," the shinigami said. They looked regal, as if they hadn't just drawn on Ichigo's face. "The first is the Soul Burial, which you have just seen. The second is to exterminate hollows. That is why I am here in the first place."

Hollows? Here?

"Why are you here then? Why haven't you gone to take it out?" Ichigo demanded. He'd have to tell Uryū that there was a hollow in Karakura. It sure as well wasn't anywhere near here; his mother had set up way too many wards and alarms for that.

The shinigami frowned, and looked both sheepish and pensive. "Because, fool, for some reason I am no longer able to sense it. A strange power has been making it hard for me to sense anything, really."

Wait. Did that mean that Ichigo's household wards were interfering with the shinigami's ability to sense spiritual energy? Strange. The wards usually extended their sensitivity to hollow energy, if only so they could dispatch it before it got too close.

It was then that Ichigo heard the scream. His insides froze. That was a hollow screech. That… should not be possible. Ichigo would have known if a hollow got that close!

"…What was that?" Ichigo managed. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" the shinigami asked. They stiffened not a second later. "That was a hollow's scream!" they said, and stood up. "How were you able to hear it before me?"

And then Yuzu screamed.

"Yuzu!" Ichigo yelled.

The shinigami sprinted out of the room, drawing their sword as they did. Ichigo did not care. His sisters were in danger and scared. Ichigo strained at the spell. It broke quickly, desperation and fury making Ichigo's spiritual energy work faster than it normally would.

"Dammit!" Ichigo swore, an ran after the shinigami. Yuzu. Karin.

He found Karin at the top of the stairs.

What the absolute fuck, how had Ichigo not heard what was going on-

"Ichi-nii?" Karin whispered. She looked up at him, relief in her eyes.

Her side was torn open, blood pooling beneath her.

Ichigo shoved his emotions deep inside and focused on Karin. "Hey," he said and kneeled next to her, unmindful of the blood.

Ichigo placed his hands on her side and gently fed her his spiritual energy. He couldn't heal with his power, nor did Quincy have any particular healing skills, but energy was energy. And Quincy dealt with blood. Karin took the energy and her bleeding slowed, just like Mom taught Ichigo and Ichigo taught the twins. It wouldn't last long, but it would keep Karin stable until they could get proper medical attention. Dad would know what to do.

"So-something attacked us," Karin said. "It was… invisible. I couldn't see it! And then. It attacked Yuzu and Da-ad. I ca-came to get you."

"Shh," Ichigo said soothingly, combing his fingers through her hair. "I'll deal with it, okay?"

"Okay," Karin said. She closed her eyes, though he could tell she wasn't falling unconscious. Karin was too stubborn for that. "The spirit with the sword ran downstairs."

"Okay," Ichigo said. He made sure that she was stable before he ran downstairs.

Ichigo… didn't have his bow with him. Well, shit, good going, Ichigo. He would be fine, though. He had to be fine. There was no other option. Ichigo had his fists and his feet and whatever was lying around downstairs. Nothing in the house was as useful as their spiritual weapons, but everything had existed in the same space as three spiritually aware beings. That would help.

Dad was unconscious, slumped against the wall. There was a hole on the side of the building. Thankfully, it was along their living room wall rather than the clinic. They'd have to replace so much stuff if it were the clinic.

Ichigo looked Dad over, and only found a lump on the back of his head. Probably from when he hit the wall, then. There were scrapes along his arms, but Ichigo remembered those from their brawl earlier. Nothing to worry about, then. Ichigo would normally worry about a concussion, but Dad was tough.

Ichigo looked up when a shadow was cast over the floor.

Hollow.

The first thing that Ichigo saw was the bone white of the spirit. The second was its sheer size, as it was larger than any hollow Ichigo had ever seen before. It was easily twice his eight, even slumped over as it was.

And then Ichigo noticed that it was holding onto Yuzu.

There was a baseball bat in his hands. Ichigo rushed forwards before registering it. He brought the baseball bat around and hit the hollow in the side. It grunted in pain but didn't let go. A large hand threw Ichigo backwards. He watched as that same hand came forward in an attempt to bury him. He scrambled to get up. Before Ichigo could move away, the shinigami came.

They brought their sword around and deflected the attack. Where had they been, Ichigo thought hazily. Another movement cut everything below the elbow off. It didn't bleed, but the hollow roared in pain.

The hollow dropped Yuzu. Ichigo managed to catch her. He scrambled away with her in his arms from where the shinigami and hollow were fighting. Ichigo carefully placed Yuzu on the ground. She would be fine this far away, and he didn't want to jostle her too much. Ichigo pressed a hand to her cheek. He closed his eyes and felt poking at Yuzu's reiryoku with his own spiritual energy. He sighed in relief when he felt nothing wrong. Yuzu was just unconscious, then.

Hollows went after people with strong spiritual energy. When Ichigo's mother realized that Ichigo literally had almost no control over his spiritual power, she had placed wards so that the energy would be dispersed evenly into the air. Ichigo and Uryū added onto it after Mom died and the twins started radiating their own spiritual energy. The wards didn't work a set distance from the house, but it was the best that they could do. They had even set wards around all of the schools, copied from what Mom did to their house.

Ichigo didn't know why the wards didn't warn him that a hollow was nearby. That didn't matter, now. There was a hollow here now, and it had attacked Ichigo's family. It needed to die.

The baseball bat was just a regular baseball bat. But Ichigo was Kurosaki, and he knew how to make any weapon work for him. If he had is bow, he would have been able to kill the hollow in one hit.

Ichigo didn't have his bow. He had his baseball bat, and he had his spiritual energy.

The shinigami was facing Ichigo. They looked concerned for Yuzu. Before Ichigo could run ahead, he saw the hollow's arm grow back.

What?

"Look out!" Ichigo shouted. The shinigami wasn't paying attention. Why weren't they paying attention?

The hollow smacked the shinigami aside, and they hit the wall with a resounding thud. The force was actually enough to crack the concrete. Ichigo winced with sympathy.

Ichigo frowned, and shifted to move. He ran forward and brought the baseball bat up. It hit the underside of the hollow's arm with a loud crack. The bat broke, split where it had hit the hollow. The hollow roared in pain. Ichigo smirked before the other arm came around and smacked him backwards.

Ichigo spun on the road, felt his arms scrape, but he managed to twist himself upright. His shoes skidded against the road, and slid several feet before he came to a stop in front of Yuzu. She was awake now, and watched him blearily.

"Onii-chan?" Yuzu whispered.

"Hey," Ichigo replied. He smiled as comfortingly as he could. Despite, you know, the hollow still roaring.

Ichigo could tell that the hollow was getting ready to charge at him. Ichigo refused to move, and he wasn't running. Not with Yuzu behind him and Karin and Dad in the clinic. Ichigo might die, but he would never let anything happen to his family.

Ichigo brought up the broken handle of the baseball bat. It was next to useless now, but any weapon was better than none. And the sharp edge of shattered wood would make a good point. Ichigo grinned and crouched as he filled the wood with his spiritual energy. There was no fucking way that he would die without a fight.

"You… want my soul, right?" Ichigo said when the hollow was standing above him. He saw it lick what passed for its lips. "Then try to fucking take it!"

The hollow lunged forward. Ichigo steadied his grip around the baseball bat's handle, and felt his spiritual energy rise against the threat. Would it be enough? Who knows, but like hell if Ichigo wasn't trying.

The hollow's mouth widened as it prepared to eat Ichigo. He lifted the handle, sharp end first, ready to punch it through the roof of the hollow's mouth the moment it was close enough. Ichigo might lose an arm in the process, but he could deal with that after.

The hollow wrapped around a body.

It wasn't Ichigo.

It was the shinigami.

Ichigo watched, wide eyed, as the shinigami allowed themselves to be bitten in place of Ichigo. The hollow fell backwards, clearly not expecting it. Ichigo sure as hell didn't. It retreated slightly, giving Ichigo and the shinigami some space.

"You! Why-" Ichigo started.

"You idiot," the shinigami rasped. They stared Ichigo in the eye. Then they fell to the ground, blood pooling around their body. Wait. When were spirits able to bleed? "Do you think that your power was enough to defeat it?"

Ichigo refrained from snorting. He wasn't about to explain that if he had his own, then yes, Ichigo definitely would have been able to defeat it. Even his broken baseball bat would have worked, if at risk to himself. "I'm sorry," Ichigo said instead. Because the shinigami had taken a blow meant for him.

"Do not worry about it," the shinigami said. They managed to prop themselves on their forearms. Wow, they were tough. Ichigo would have passed out from blood loss by now. "Unfortunately, I am unable to fight."

"Wait, wait," Ichigo said. He glanced at Yuzu, who even half-unconscious smiled at him. Even like this she knew exactly what Ichigo wanted to do. "Here, let me-" Ichigo started, and kneeled next to the shinigami. Probably a bad idea when the hollow was only taking a breather, but whatever.

"All we can do now… is wait. Until we become its food," the shinigami said. They smiled reassuringly at Ichigo, like that was perfectly okay.

What the fuck.

Ichigo snarled at the shinigami. He placed his hands on either side of their wounds, and poked. Probably not as gently as he should have, but Ichigo was too irritated to care at the moment. Like he expected, their spiritual energies were too different for this to really work. Ichigo wasn't much of a healer, anyways. But like hell he'd let the shinigami just give up.

That kind of shit always pissed him off!

The shinigami looked at Ichigo as he tried his best to transfer his spiritual energy over. They probably didn't even register what he was doing. They probably thought that Ichigo was just trying in his weak human way to stop their bleeding. Let them think that. At least Ichigo was doing something!

"Do you," the shinigami breathed lightly, "want to save your family?"

"Is that even a fucking question?" Ichigo demanded, and then registered what the shinigami was actually asking. "Wait. There's a way for me to fight? Tell me!"

The shinigami turned themselves over, and managed to sit up. Blood still dripped from their side. At least Ichigo's rudimentary energy transfer worked. Somewhat. They turned their attention to the hollow, which was still backed up. Anticipatory.

"There is a way," the shinigami started. They shook their head slightly, and then immediately appeared to regret the motion. "Or, perhaps, there is only one way."

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"You," the shinigami said. They swung their sword around so that the tip was sitting over Ichigo's chest. He flinched slightly at the motion, as telegraphed as it was. "Become a shinigami."

"What," Ichigo said. Because seriously. What the fuck?

"Your heart is the center of your spiritual energy," the shinigami explained. As if that was what Ichigo was questioning in the first place. "If you pierce your heart with this zanpakutō, then I can transfer half of my power to you. And with the temporary power of a shinigami, you will have the power to fight the hollow."

Ichigo could kill the damned thing without shinigami powers, thank you. But he absolutely did not have time to go and fetch his bow. But to transfer your power…?

"Is it really okay to do something like this?" Ichigo asked. He eyed the hollow, which looked ready to attack again.

"I do not know," the shinigami admitted. Wow, that was very convincing. "And the percentage of success is nowhere near close to one hundred percent. Still, it is the only way! And there is no time for second guessing!"

"Onii-chan," Yuzu whispered from behind them. Ichigo turned to her. She stared at him, eyes blurry. She was terrible at seeing spirits, but she could hear them just fine. "Onii-chan, you have to… run…"

To get his bow? Ichigo could. To get help? Yeah, Uryū and Uncle Ryūken would be able to help. But Ichigo simply didn't have the time. Now would he leave Yuzu behind.

And why was Yuzu worrying about Ichigo when she was the one injured? Karin, too, since she dragged herself upstairs to find him. Why? Ichigo was their older brother. It was his job to look after them.

Ha. Made him look stupid, hesitating like this.

"Shinigami!" Ichigo said, "Give me that sword of yours. Nothing's going to happen if we don't at least try."

The shinigami looked up at him. They leaned against the wall. They smiled and it was… kind. Honest. "It's not 'shinigami'. My name is Kuchiki Rukia."

Ichigo stared, momentarily startled by them. Then he smiled too. "I see. Well, then, Rukia. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. Let's hope that this isn't our last meeting, yeah?"

The hollow roared.

"Hurry! It's coming!" Rukia said.

They held out their sword, point aimed just above Ichigo's heart. Ichigo wrapped his hands around the hilt, pinky fingers touching Rukia's. Even like this, the tip of the blade didn't touch Ichigo's skin. The sword- the zanpakutō- had a short blade, fitting the person that wielded it.

The hollow continued to roar.

Ichigo and Rukia stared at each other. Ichigo was going to be stabbed. Rukia was going to stab him Something like this would normally kill Ichigo. He figured that they both needed a moment to prepare themselves. Ichigo kept in mind his family. His sisters.

"Let's do this," Ichigo said.

"Yeah," Rukia agreed.

The hollow started charging.

Ichigo pulled the sword, and Rukia pushed, and then-

There was a sword in his chest.

It was in that brief moment that Ichigo catalogued several different things. Blood that welled up around the sword entrance and exit. Rukia's shocked face, as if they were surprised that they actually stabbed him. The small scrape along the back of his left hand. The tender bruises along his forearms, and a hip. The smell of dinner that still hung lightly in the air. The dust that permeated the area casting a faint haze over everything. The ethereal glow as the setting sun cast long shadows and turned the clouds a startling shade of red.

A second later, it felt as if his chest were on fire. Ichigo figured that was to be expected with the whole sword in chest thing.

And then-

Ichigo felt his spiritual energy surge. It poured outwards with no direction, blanketing the surrounding area. It felt like it was being pulled outwards. His heart started beating wildly, somehow, around the sword in his chest. Ichigo could hear his pulse.

A foreign spiritual energy surrounded Ichigo, like a blanket, that did nothing to reign in his own spiritual energy. Distantly, he heard someone scream. In pain, in sorrow, and in confusion. Mostly pain. I feel you.

Rukia? Ichigo knew that this was Rukia, somehow. Strange that he hadn't recognized their spiritual energy immediately, with the whole sword in chest thing going on. It was to be expected, Ichigo supposed. He didn't have the strongest recognition for spiritual energy in the first place.

And then-

Rukia's spiritual energy was gone, suppressed by his own. Ichigo's spiritual power flooded forth, and bursted around him in a blast of concentrated energy. Ha. Uryū was going to throw a fit.

As Ichigo's spiritual energy poured outwards, the pain disappeared. So did the feeling of a sword in his chest. And then Ichigo's spiritual energy shifted, and felt unlike anything that Ichigo had ever felt before. More than he had ever used before. Was this really Ichigo's power? He never realized-

Ichigo felt his energy wrap around him, like he was submerged in water. It tugged, and Ichigo felt his clothes change. It was instantaneous; Ichigo was in his school uniform, and then he was not. He was dressed in something entirely new. Ichigo couldn't help but feel like a magical girl.

I hope it's not too frilly, Ichigo thought somewhat hysterically.

The spiritual energy that surrounded him started to dissipate. Ichigo felt something settle along his back, a new weight that wasn't there before. Ichigo reached up to find- huh? A sword? Why a sword? Ichigo didn't even know how to use a sword…

Rukia? Rukia had said that stabbing him would give him shinigami powers. Were their powers tied to their swords? Or was it just Rukia, since they had specifically lent him their power?

Well. No matter. It was a weapon. And it could channel spiritual energy.

Good. Ichigo grinned. Probably with too many teeth.

Ichigo could see the hollow. And he didn't know how to explain the difference, from before. He had always seen hollows, but not like this. It's like a filter has been lifted from his sight, or added. The hollow looked like it was moving in slow motion. Ichigo lifted the sword off of his back, and held it in front of him. Part of him wondered at how easy that had been. The sword- zanpakutō?- was as long as Ichigo was tall.

Ichigo felt his energy being absorbed into the blade, less like a drain and more like a sponge. The blade started glowing. Nice. A video game tutorial in real life! Ichigo followed exactly what he felt the zanpakutō was telling him to do. It was… easy, to swing it in an arc. The energy gathered by the blade followed that arc, and shot forward like a projectile. It wasn't as fast as an arrow, but it was quick enough. It cut clean through the hollow's arm.

It was easy, after that, to kill the hollow. Wielding a sword this size felt kind of incredible, actually. Even if Ichigo knew that he swung it around with no control and no skill whatsoever.

Whatever. It wasn't as Ichigo were going to be using the zanpakutō after this. As long as he killed this hollow and protected his family, Ichigo was perfectly fine with swinging it around like an oversized baseball bat.

One cut, still overcharged with the energy from Ichigo's magical girl transformation, and the hollow split in half. Nice. Ichigo would have to see if he could replicate this attack with his bow, somehow.

Even as the spiritual energy started to settle, Ichigo staggered in place.

Oh.

Well, shit. Of course Ichigo would faint.

He had just used a new and unknown technique in battle. No practice beforehand to test how it worked and what its immediate limitations were. Ichigo remembered how many time he had exhausted himself when he first tried to create a bow. It took hours of practice before he could hold a bow steady without fainting.

"Good job," Rukia said quietly from behind Ichigo. She sounded tired.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied absentmindedly. He blinked, and through the sludge that his brain was becoming, decided that getting closer to the ground while he could still move was a good idea. Face planting didn't sound fun. Ichigo had face planted before.

He was just on his knees when he lost consciousness.