((Hi! I'm very sorry that I haven't updated in a long while. Truthfully, my family had a bit of a family tragedy recently, and we're still feeling the effects of it. But I'm going to be back on schedule. Thank you for your patience, and I deeply, truly apologize again.

So I've nearly got the storyline figured out, and what will be happening. This might get pretty long… I can't wait to read your responses over the duration of the story!

So here's the awaited chapter 5! Commence!))

Ichigo hated to admit it, but the sweet potato was pretty good. He had to get somewhere, yet he was eager to finish it. Mashiro stood beside him, happily munching on hers. He couldn't help but stare at her out of the corner of his eye. She was so strange, her reliability a bit questionable. Could he really trust her?

"Let's continue!" Mashiro declared, crumpling up the now-empty sweet potato napkin. She smiled brightly, just standing there.

"Okay," Ichigo agreed, waiting for a few seconds. She stayed perfectly still with that stupid grin on her face for a bit. "And… when do you plan on continuing?"

Mashiro suddenly looked a bit nervous, with a forced smile. "Um… where are we going again?"

Ichigo groaned. He pulled out the slip of paper again. "Here! To wherever this is! Remember now?!"

"Oh! Yes!" She clapped her hands with a pleased look on her face. "Come on! Come with me!" Mashiro suddenly took off down the road.

"Wait!" Ichigo ran after her, angrily. Her energy was a bit hard to handle. But Mashiro said that she would help, and she seemed to be the only person who could see him at the moment. He really had no other choice at the moment.

…

"You have got to be kidding me…" Ichigo complained, looking at the Ramen shop that Mashiro just entered. Stiffly, he went in.

Mashiro had already ordered two bowls of the special, sitting on a stool at the counter.

"Tell me, is this the place on the piece of paper?" Ichigo skeptically asked her. He probably knew the answer already.

"What piece of paper?" she asked with a convincing smile. As if she really had no idea what he was talking about. On second thought, she probably didn't.

"What piece of paper?! What do you mean 'what piece of paper?!'" He slammed his hand on the counter. This girl was so frustrating.

"Oh, that piece of paper. …Nope. This isn't it," she truthfully answered, as if it was not a problem whatsoever.

"… Can I ask why we are here?" he pointedly asked.

"Because it's Monday!"

She was silent after that, just staring at him. Ichigo wondered if that was really supposed to make sense. He was just about ready to quit trying to understand her thought process.

The shop owner came out with two bowls. He placed them both in front of Mashiro, and walked away.

Ichigo was brooding to himself, his arms crossed with a sour look on his face. With a sympathetic look, she pushed one of her bowls sideways and stopped it right in front of him.

Ichigo snapped out of it, looking down at it, then at Mashiro. She already split her chopsticks, rubbing them together.

Hesitantly, he grabbed a pair for himself, then tried to copy what she had done. It broke the wrong way. The end of one of the chopsticks was still stuck to the other one. Mashiro broke out into hysterics, finding his failure hilarious.

"What?! What's so funny?!" He slammed the pieces of wood on the counter.

"Y-you! You don't know how to split chopsticks? Where are you from?" she laughed, kicking her legs childishly a bit.

"I'm from-" he stopped midway.

Do not let anyone know that you are from Hueco Mundo.

Neliel's instructions rang through his head. Ichigo sighed in defeat.

"Do you have a tummy ache, Berry-tan?" Mashiro suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Ichigo came back to pay attention. He looked down, noticing that he had his hand on his stomach. He felt the wound hurting again, thinking that his movement was subconscious.

"A bit… But it's okay," he sighed.

Mashiro looked sad and unconvinced. After receiving no further answers from her, she went back to eating her ramen. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he tried to split another pair of chopsticks.

Ichigo growled to himself as they broke again.

Mashiro smiled at how cute he was. She reached over to grab another two pairs. "This is how you do it," she said, handing one to Ichigo. She grabbed the tips and slowly started to pull them apart. They separated cleanly, so Mashiro rubbed them together.

He carefully followed her example, taking the tips and pulling the tips apart. He smiled, seeing them split apart pretty evenly. Ichigo rubbed them together like Mashiro did, then followed her example on eating ramen. Not too long later, they finished up and left the shop.

"Okay, so are we going to that place now?" Ichigo asked her. He was a bit calmer now that he was full.

"Hmmm…. Okay!" Mashiro ran off again, this time in the direction that he needed. Ichigo followed after her, happy that she was finally helping him. He had to do what Master Neliel said if he wanted to get home…

Suddenly, he ran right into Mashiro as she stopped. Falling to the ground as she stared to the side, he asked. "What was that for?!"

"I forgot!" she happily said. Ichigo turned to see what she was staring at.

In the front yard outside of a big building, whole bunches of people, around their age, were partaking in various activities. There were games, cafes, food stands, and other little areas where visitors stopped by.

"What's this place?" he asked.

"It's a school fair! I forgot that it was going on today!"

"We're not going in there, are we?!" Ichigo was definitely at the end of his wits. This girl was utterly infuriating.

"Of course, Berry-tan!" Mashiro grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet. She dragged his through the gates.

For the next half-an-hour, as it grew darker, Mashiro brought him to each booth, ordering food and playing games. She didn't even notice Ichigo's mood sinking even further and further in annoyance. Whenever Mashiro passed by people, they could swear they felt their moods drop a tiny bit for no apparent reason. Of course, they couldn't see Ichigo.

Slowly, Mashiro felt more resistance as she pulled him around. Eventually, she took the time to look behind her. "Berry-tan… Hurry up! It's going to end soon," she complained, pouting. But suddenly, she looked confused.

Her new friend was unresponsive. His eyes had gone blank, as if he was just some doll. He looked slightly down to the ground, making no movements on his own. Ichigo made to motion of recognition as she circled him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Mashiro waved her hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention. She was totally unable to get any reaction from him, no matter how much she poked or prodded him.

"What's wrong, Berry-tan? Are you sad because it's ending? Don't be sad! Come on, let's go over there," she reassured, pointing at a booth with some carnival games. She dragged him over. Ichigo walked slowly without her help, but would not move on his own free will.

Mashiro took him to several more places, watching him carefully. Her attempts to cheer him up weren't working at all.

The festival was drawing to a close. People had already started to pack up as the two walked back out of the walls, hand-in-hand.

She looked at him sadly, his face devoid of any emotion.

"Oh, I know! How about dessert? Are you upset because we ate stuff and didn't get any dessert?" she asked. Of course, he didn't reply. But Mashiro thought she had found the answer anyways.

She pulled him off in the direction of her favorite café.

…

Mashiro sat across from Ichigo. He made no attempt to eat the parfait that she had bought for him. She ate a bit of her own, but then stopped for a second.

"Every eat one of these?" Mashiro asked him. Her usual perky voice seemed a bit sadder now. Leaving her spoon in her dish, she reached for his. Mashiro scooped a bit of ice cream out of his bowl, and held it up to his mouth.

Nothing.

Leaning on one hand, she gently shoved the spoon into his mouth. He actually swallowed it. A bit more hopeful, she continued to spoon-feed Ichigo.

When his parfait was all gone, she smiled happily, waiting for him to say something. Cutely shoving her hands into her lap while cutely fluttering her eyes, she waited. But as nothing happened, her shoulders slowly sank. Her smile disappeared.

She took his hand and pulled him back outside. Mashiro felt like something was lodged in her throat.

Looking at Ichigo, she asked, "What's wrong, Berry-tan?" She cracked a smile, even as he didn't answer her.

"I'm sorry, I was just having a lot of fun with you… I'm sorry that I didn't take you to that place. I'll take you now, okay?" she reassured. He blankly stared at the ground. "… Are you mad at me, Ichigo-kun?"

Mashiro started to tear up. Suddenly, a roar could be heard in the distance. Mashiro looked off in that direction, a tear running down her cheek. "A hollow," she quietly said, recognizing the sound anywhere.

Mashiro noticed that Ichigo had turned to look in that direction, too. "Berry-tan?!"

He took off in the direction in a split second. Mashiro quickly followed behind him. "Wait! Where are you going?! Ichigo-kun, it's dangerous! Stop! Ichigo-kun!!"

They came to a halt in the middle of a street. Sure enough, there was a Hollow about the size of a large bull standing there with a hungry look in its eyes. Its attention turned to Ichigo and Mashiro as they stood there.

Mashiro looked a bit afraid. But it was fear for her new friend, not of the creature. She noticed that Ichigo was staring at the Hollow, as if waiting for it to strike.

"Berry-tan, let's get out of here," she quickly said, tugging on his arm. "You can't fight it without a zanpakuto. And you have a tummy-ache, remember?"

Suddenly, the beast ran straight at them! To protect her new friend, she gathered the energy to fight. But before she could take action, Ichigo ran forward to meet the beast!

Frozen in place, she watched as Ichigo use one hand to stop the Hollow in place. With one hand on its forehead, he wickedly smiled.

Before it knew what was happening, it felt its soul being pulled out of its body. A thin white trail of his essence was being sucked into Ichigo's mouth. He feasted on the spirit of the Hollow, as it slowly started to disappear.

Mashiro watched in horror as Ichigo ripped off its mask and started to eat it hungrily. The white mask may have been the size of a refrigerator's freezer door, but he made short work of it.

All traces of the Hollow were gone now, and Ichigo just stood there.

Hesitantly, Mashiro called out, "I-Ichigo-kun?"

He looked up, now brought to his attention. Ichigo looked over his shoulder as if nothing had happened. He was the same as a while before. "Mashiro-chan? What's wrong?"

She stayed silent, trembling a bit. What was going on? What happened with that Hollow? Why was he suddenly back to normal? Should she stay or leave?

A few voices could be heard in the distance. Mashiro could hear that they were Soul Reapers, based on what they were talking about.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked. He turned to start to walk to Mashiro, but then suddenly paused. Going pale, a bit of blood spurted out from his wound, darkening his black robe even further. With a short gasp and a bit of blood running out of his mouth, Ichigo collapsed.

Before he could hit the ground, Mashiro jumped forward to catch him. She slowly lowered him down, his head on her lap.

"Ichigo… Ichigo-kun! Ichigo-kun!" She tried to keep him awake. She lightly shook him as he shuddered.

"Ma… Mashi-" he was cut off as he lost consciousness, looking up at her with pathetic eyes.

She decided to ignore what happened with the Hollow. He was her friend, and had treated her nicely even when she was being annoying! He was the same person as before, now.

And he needed help.

Mashiro started to panic as she heard the Soul Reapers getting closer. If he needed to go where the paper said, he was most likely trying to run away. She tried to think of what to do. He seemed to be too hurt to be moved by someone smaller than him. Her movements would be unsteady from carrying him, which could kill him.

Suddenly, Mashiro heard what sounded like wood hit the ground behind her. She turned her head to see who was there. Her eyes widened as she realized who had come up behind her.

Urahara Kisuke.