Rukia watched helplessly as the large apartment went up in flames. The firefighters waged a deadly battle, spraying water from their hoses at the burning structure, but to no avail. Smoke billowed skyward in heavy clouds from the wreckage, permeating the air and making breathing a difficult task.

She examined the face of a thin, trembling woman, whom she shielded under her left arm. The human sobbed, her brown eyes tainted with a glassy dullness brought about by shock, while tears streamed down her soot laden cheeks. Rukia murmured a few soothing words to her and pulled her closer while turning her away from her destroyed home. Something about her seemed familiar, but Rukia could not quite discern why. She looked so delicate, like a flower, and it raised a deep protective instinct in Rukia, one that took her quite by surprise.

"Come on with me. Can you walk?" Rukia asked, then continued at the girl's silent nod. "I'm going to take you somewhere safe."

When Rukia received the alert tonight, she'd been wandering aimlessly. An unusually high number of Hollow sightings in the area had the Seireitai patrolling around the clock. It was Rukia's task gather information, and try to find out why the creatures were suddenly so active here.

She dashed off to see if she could be of assistance, and heard panicked shouts coming from the third floor. Glancing up, she saw the unmistakable form of a hollow through the window. She never hesitated, and ran up the stairs, flinging the door open just in time to see the monster looming above a short woman.

The tiny single bedroom apartment was dark, save for several candles spread around the room, and phantasmic shadows slithered along the walls, as though they too were searching for an escape from the horror here. As she took in the scene, the hollow reached out and effortlessly lifted the human into the air. It did not stop her assault, though, and now she kicked and spat at it, each attack meeting only air.

Rukia stepped forward, allowing her spirit pressure to attract the hollow, and it casually threw the human aside. Contrary to what Rukia expected, once the woman was free she stood tall in front of the creature, lobbing books and other handy objects at it. Her aim was excellent, and every missile would have hit the mark, except that instead they harmlessly passed through it.

Suddenly the room grew more crowded, as Rukia fought to drive the creature back. The patrol moved in quickly, taking over, and Rukia used the opportunity to lead the woman to safety. A sixth sense told her the instant the fight ended, but by that time a new horror had struck. During the scuffle, someone must have knocked over a candle, and now a raging inferno rapidly reduced the entire building to ash.

The woman stumbled along in the direction that the shinigami led her, quiet and stiff from the shock of losing everything. Rukia's heart went out to her, knowing from personal experience what it was like to own only the clothes on your back. Rukia wiped a tear from her eye, and thrust her jaw forward, determined. While there was no justification for what she was about to do, she could not sit by and let this woman fall apart. Alone.