*Le sigh* So.. I'm finally giving you guys the Epilogue to Hollow Aid! I'm actually glad this story is so well liked and popular. 142 reviews? That's the most I've gotten for a story yet! (I don't count my IchiHime drabbles because to me, it's quite different) Anyways, the reason I took so long to update this is because I had to figure out HOW to end it. Plus I had to determine Shiro's eye colour and what he looks like as a human… Y'know… the small details!

I want to continue to write stories for this couple. (Whether they're one-shots or an actual story) I just need a good idea to use.

Thanks again for all the support! Sorry to keep you waiting, here's the FINAL CHAPTER!

I REDID THE ENDING. I'm not sure if It's better than the last one, but I felt it was so bland before. I also deleted the old chapter because it just sucked. Here's the revised one.


As Shiro mentioned the previous day, him and Orihime went to Kisuke's. The gigai was complete and they needed to test it out. None of Kisuke's gigais have ever failed before, but they couldn't take that chance, especially since Shiro was a hollow.

Looking at the body, Shiro grumbled, "This better work Hats-N-Clogs. Otherwise, I'm coming for you."

Smirking behind his fan, Kisuke replied. "How could you ever doubt my skills, Shirosaki-san? I was the one who sold you guys Kon you know! And besides, none of my gigais have ever been broken. Surely you can trust me!"

Rolling his eyes at the response, he merged his spirit with the body, his eyes opening slowly. His vision was a bit blurry so he had to blink the fogginess away. Sitting up in his new body, he examined it from head to toe. His skin wasn't white like before, but rather, they had some peach to it. Testing out his arms and legs, he began punching and kicking the air, his reiatsu glowed around him. He stood at 6'1, towering over Orihime. But he also knew even when he was a hollow, he was rather tall. His hair was still white, though his eyes were a green with a blue tint.

Orihime was in awe, for she didn't expect him to still look like Ichigo. But she realized after, that it would've been weird if he didn't look like him. For, it wouldn't have been the same; even though her love for him wouldn't change.

He turned to Kisuke, Yoruichi just entered the room previous to him entering his body. "So how long do I have to stay in this?"

"Three months. Though with your insane reiatsu, it might take longer. The reality of it is, at this moment, you're a human. Should this plan succeed, this is how you will always look, until you die. Once you die, you will revert back to how you looked as a hollow."

"Also, Shirosaki, you will still be able to see and fight hollows. Kisuke had made this body react to your reiatsu. So anytime you need to call upon Zangetsu, all you need to do is envision him in your hands and he will appear. We can't have you be separated from the body, as we don't know what will happen. It could be very bad and we don't want anything to happen that would result in Orihime being arrested."

Nodding in understanding, he turned to look at Orihime. Extending his hand, a small smile appeared on his face, "Let's go, Hime. We don't want to be late for class."

Nodding , a smile graced her features as her hand wrapped in his.

Today was a new day.

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~In Soul Society~

"Rukia Kuchiki, do you know why you are here?"

"I involved myself with Kurosaki Ichigo and caused his hollow to date Inoue Orihime."

"Correct. We've never heard of a hollow becoming human, but knowing Kisuke Urahara, he already has something planned. I would've arrested Shirosaki Hichigo and Inoue Orihime but neither of them has shown being a threat. According to Kuchiki-Taichou, Inoue Orihime had made a deal with him."

"Correct. She had willingly agreed to be arrested by the Soul Society should Shirosaki kill even one human. By the looks of it, he really does care for her, and he's only gone after Kurosaki Ichigo. He didn't hurt my sister, so there was no need to have him arrested. Plus I doubt either one is going to cause trouble after the Hueco Mundo situation."

"Indeed. Rukia Kuchiki, because you felt the need to involve yourself with a human, you are suspended for three months. When those three months are up, we will decide if you are in need of a more severe punishment."

Bowing her head in shame, she whispered. "Understood."

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~Six weeks later~

It was a typical day at Karakura High. The gang had gathered to eat around the Cherry Blossom Tree that stood in the front of the high school. Too many painful memories of being on the roof had made Orihime want to change locations. Which Tatsuki and Shirosaki didn't seem to mind. Chad would occasionally eat with them, as he also sat with Ichigo, Keigo and Mizurio on the roof. Uryu always joined the three every day for lunch. He couldn't stand seeing Kurosaki depressed over Rukia going back and he also hated him.

He knew he should've hated Shirosaki as well, since he was Ichigo's hollow. However, unlike Ichigo, Shiro was smart. He had really high grades and he fit in nicely with the rest of the class.

The story behind Shiro was that he was Ichigo's twin that moved away to study but had come back to finish high school here. Because Shiro looked like Ichigo, everyone believed this story, except for the people who knew the truth behind it.

Instead of Shiro living with the Kurosaki's, he had stayed at Hime's, not liking the idea of being near his King. The other reason was he didn't like the idea of Orihime being alone. He hardly left her side, except when she wanted to have a girl's night at Tatsuki's; which he didn't mind, because on those days, he would scout the town for hollows.

One night, when Orihime had gone to Tatsuki's for a sleepover, he had decided to visit Orihime's brother's grave. He wasn't sure what to do exactly, because he hadn't been human for long and he wasn't sure if this is how things worked in society. But he felt he owed it to him. To her. With a hand in his pocket, he stared down at the grave that marked "INOUE SORA".

'Better get this over with.'

"Umm... I'm not exactly sure how people do this. You see, Inoue-san, I'm a hollow. A hollow, that gained a human heart and human emotions. Your sister, Inoue Orihime, holds a special place in my heart. She was the one who helped me understand and gain these emotions. She's told me lots about you; like how King had to fight you when you turned into a Hollow. Anyways, I know that King hurt her badly, but I promise you that I'm not going to do that. I'm starting to fully understand what love really is. And though I've only told her once, I really do love her. She knows that I can't always say how I feel. The reason I'm here is because I wanted your permission to continue dating her. Perhaps one day, we can find you in the Soul Society and do this right. But until then, I promise to make sure she doesn't die. I will continue to love her until she doesn't want me around anymore. Anyway, thank you Inoue-san. If it wasn't for you, Orihime wouldn't be here. I hope you have a good night. Take care."

With that, Shiro left the graveyard, though he could've sworn he felt Inoue Sora's presence as he walked away.

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"Say, what are you going to do Hime?"

She blinked. "What are you talking about Tatsuki-chan?"

"I mean, are you going to forgive Ichigo and Rukia?"

She stared down at her hands that were linked together in her lap. Sure, she hadn't felt angry for almost a month and a half. But she did wonder why Ichigo had been avoiding everyone. She also knew that Rukia hadn't come back from the Soul Society. When she heard that from Chad, she had put the two together.

Shaking her head, she looked up at Tatsuki. "I'm not sure. Yes, I'm still hurt by the fact that they're together, but right now, Rukia isn't even here. Surely, Kurosaki-kun feels lonely since Shiro-kun used to always pick on him. But he doesn't have anyone at the moment. I'm sure he's avoiding his family so that's not the right thing to do. It has been some time since they started dating. So, maybe I can forgive them. It doesn't mean everything will return to normal though."

Tatsuki nodded, lightly patting her friend on the back. She grinned at her best friend. "I'm so proud of you, Hime. You really have grown."

Hugging her friend, warmth spread throughout her body as she knew in her heart she was doing the right thing.

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It was lunch time the following Monday. Tatsuki had let Orihime go somewhere else for lunch. She knew what was going on and though she told Shiro about it, he didn't like the idea of her being alone. However, Tatsuki had convinced him that it was okay for her to go alone.

"Ichigo isn't that stupid to hurt her any more than he already has. Plus he needs to stop being so damn depressed. Don't worry Shiro; Orihime knows what she's doing. You have to trust that she'll come back to you. She won't put you in the position she's been in."

He couldn't help himself as his gaze went to the roof, where said girl and boy were. He was able to sense both their reiatsu so he knew nothing bad happened. Yet.

"Shiro, you need to relax. Tatsuki knows Orihime better than anyone. Plus, if your reiatsu rises any higher, it might alert the Soul Society. I understand you're anxious about it, but she also has a point. This is something she has to do on her own. If she couldn't do it on her own, she wouldn't be able to face herself. So relax, everything will be fine."

Hearing Zangetu's wise words, Shiro lowered his reiatsu and concentrated on his friends. Hime would be fine. She was more than capable of handling herself.

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Opening the door to the roof, Orihime spotted him instantly. He had separated himself from everyone today. Chad had opted to spend his lunch with them, so she knew he would be alone. Keigo or Mizurio don't generally sit with Ichigo if Chad isn't there. He seemed lost in thought, but Orihime knew better to think that.

Has he really been that upset since she left?

A determined look appeared on her face as she walked towards him, her reiatsu rose to alert him of her presence. That seemed to work as he lifted his head to look at her, his eyes widened slightly. He kept silent as she sat in front of him, her eyes holding a hint of seriousness mixed with something else. Ichigo had never seen her like this before, and it was so new to him. He had no idea how to react.

"What are you doing?"

His eyebrow raised as her eyes closed, her reiatsu slowly rising with each breath. He stayed silent, not knowing how to answer the question.

"Not going to talk? Hmph, I guess you're not the Kurosaki-kun I knew."

This got his attention as he tried to say words he wanted to tell her for a while. But he felt as though he shouldn't say anything. This caused her to get more irritated as she was waiting for him to say something.

"Jesus! What do you think sitting around and moping is going to do? It's not going to fix anything! She won't come back just because you're depressed and your friends aren't going to hang out with you if you have this attitude! Seriously Ichigo! What's wrong with you?"

Just then, something snapped in him. "What's wrong?! Let me see, I thought everything would be awesome after Shiro left, but now I feel so empty and lonely. My friends won't even hang out with me because of this whole incident. The one I love got banned from seeing me just because we're from two different worlds. And I lost one of my very best friends because of it!"

"If you had told me sooner that you and Rukia were dating this wouldn't have happened!"

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

Anger was shown in her eyes as she glared at him. "I was THERE Ichigo! The night you and Rukia got together, I saw the whole thing! It hurt me to know that the man I loved really did love someone else. But I didn't want to see you guys happy. So I ran away. At the time, a hollow came and attacked me. I was too upset to even fight properly and I almost died! But then Shiro-kun came, and he saved me from being killed. While you and Rukia were in your own worlds, you neglected everyone else around you! That's why no one wants to be with you!"

Silence enveloped both teens. One sat there in shock, the other breathing heavily after finally getting her true feelings out.

"I-Inoue… I didn't know…"

"Of course you didn't know! RUKIA didn't even know. I hid my reiatsu because I didn't want to ruin everything. I still love you Ichigo. But you belong with Rukia. You need her, and Shiro-kun needs me. I will continue to be with Shiro-kun. I love him more than I love you. At first I was scared that I only loved him because he looked like you. However, after spending so much time with him, and getting to know him better, I realized that I truly did want to be with him. And that's why I gave myself up for him. I didn't want anyone to take him away from me, so that's why I got scared to tell you. Because I knew you were going to react the way you did. I knew you wouldn't understand. I had real reasons to keep my relationship a secret. YOU however didn't. Everyone could figure out that you two were dating. It's not that hard. However, I didn't just come up here to yell at you."

He looked at her, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I came up here to say… I forgive you, Ichigo. I'm not saying we can go back to being friends again, if we ever were, but I was never really mad at you two. I was more hurt that you would keep it from me. So, I'm glad you're happy, Ichigo. I know I'm being selfish because I'm keeping Shiro-kun from you. But I feel it's only fair that I can have at least a part of you that loves me. Even if you don't feel that way yourself, I'm glad that he does. You don't have to say anything either. I never expected this to be an actual conversation. I just wanted to get everything off my chest. It's up to you now, whether you want to fix your relationships or let them break even more."

With that, she turned to leave the roof, not seeing the small smile on his face.

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Sensing Orihime coming down from the roof, Shiro shunpo'd to the staircase. Her eyes blinked in surprise before a smile graced her face. She ran down the last few steps before throwing herself into his arms.

"I'm glad you're alright. He didn't hurt you did he?"

Shaking her head, she looked up at him. "No. I just told him how I felt. He hardly talked at all. But I'm okay with that. I feel that if he tried to talk with me, I would've freaked out a lot more on him. I'm just glad he was actually listening to what I said, even if he never made much of an attempt."

"So you're really going to forgive him?"

"Shiro-kun, life's too short to hold onto grudges. I never hated them. I just wished they told me when I saw it. I suppose it was partially my fault since I kept my reiatsu hidden. But, I'm glad that I got something out of this."

Pulling her close to his chest, Shiro smiled into his hair.

"I'm glad too.. Hime."

"Thank you Shiro-kun."

Blinking he tilted her head up to look into her eyes.

"For what Hime?"

"There's a lot of reasons why I should thank you. You saved me Shiro-kun."

Frowning, he looked at her, "Idiot, if anyone should be grateful, it should be me. You were the one who taught me everything I know. You helped me when I thought I couldn't be helped. You're the reason I'm still here today."

Smiling, she kissed him on the cheek before grabbing his hand.

"Come on, let's go back."

Smirking, he nodded, feeling warmth in his chest at the feel of her hand in his. Squeezing it lightly, he walked beside her, never letting go of what was his.

When he saw the others run up to them, he knew right away.

He was glad to be human.


A/N: I hope this ending is a lot better. I apologize if it's still shit.

Also, I wanted to give Orihime a backbone for once. I don't like how she's sometimes portrayed. I wanted her to stand up for herself against Ichigo.

Thanks again for all the reviews and likes of this story! I really love you all! :)

~Tia-chan~