Disclaimer: I own nothing

Rated: T

Ichigo huffed, swinging his large Zanpakutou over his shoulder while throwing a mean glare at Rukia, "You know, these Hollows have only been attacking me ever since I met you!" He stared at the window where the Hollow had escaped after he managed to drive it off.

"He got away," Rukia frowned, "We've got to go after him!" She made a move to leave, though stopped after seeing that Ichigo was still in place, "Ichigo!"

"That Hollow," Ichigo began quietly, "I swear it had a face – a human face." He wasn't quite sure, but he believed he saw a human face on that Hollow after he had cracked its mask.

And not only that...

"That face... was Inoue's brother!"

Rukia glanced at him with wide violet eyes, jumping when the closed door to Ichigo's room suddenly opened, revealing an irate Kagome, "Ichi, what are you doi–? Rukia?" She blinked, looking a little surprised to see the Shinigami.

"Answer my question," Ichigo said, ignoring Kagome's questioning stare for the moment to glare harshly at Rukia, "Why did I see Inoue's brother?"

Rukia sighed, knowing that she had to answer, "Hollows... were all formerly human souls." She didn't seem to be too surprised by the shock on Ichigo and Kagome's faces.

"You mean, those monsters we've been fighting aren't monsters at all?" Kagome looked rather troubled, closing the door behind her so their family wouldn't barge in like she did, "They're human?"

"No!" Rukia interrupted sharply, "Now, they are only monsters!" She frowned, watching for their reactions, "You have to take him down! Otherwise, he will devour other helpless souls."

"How can I? I can't kill Inoue's brother!" Ichigo growled, "He doesn't need to die again! Maybe we can–"

"If you don't take him out now, then he can never be saved," Rukia said coldly, "And Inoue will be in danger."

"Inoue-san?" Kagome looked worriedly between the two, wondering what had just transpired before she had entered the room.

"We have to go now!" Rukia said, quickly placing the red glove on her hand and pushing out Kagome's Shinigami form before anyone could move, "Come, Ichigo, Kagome!" And with that, she jumped out of the window as Ichigo and Kagome looked to each other.

As their eyes met, they made a silent agreement and quickly followed after Rukia.

~00~

Ichigo easily bounced off the roofs of the houses, moving as fast as he possibly could with Rukia on his back and Kagome following quickly after him, "Hollows... they attack their relatives?"

"It does happen," Rukia answered, "Hollows are fallen souls. They have lost their hearts when they turned into Hollows. This Hollow must want to completely bury its heart and to do so, it must attack the soul of the person it loved most in its life."

"That's awful!" Kagome said, widening her blue eyes when she finally seemed to realise something, "Then, you mean, that bruise on Inoue-san's leg was actually...?"

"Yes," Rukia nodded, giving Kagome a look from Ichigo's back, "That bruise was the mark of a Hollow. It was most likely behind the accident that Inoue was involved earlier today!"

The two Shinigami moved even quicker at the words.

~00~

Orihime crawled back in shock, trembling against the wall as the large monster cornered her, "Tatsuki-chan..." She looked worriedly to her unconscious friend, though her eyes were quickly drawn back to the monster when it growled at her.

"I'm sad," It groaned in agony, "I'm so sad!" It tensed, preparing to lunge as Orihime braced herself for the inevitable attack. She only opened her eyes again after a few moments of not feeling any pain.

The sight had her widening her eyes in shock and dropping her jaw in awe.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She gasped, seeing Ichigo standing in front of her as he struggled to hold the Hollow back, "Higurashi-san!" She noticed that Kagome was kneeling down in front of Tatsuki and checking on her condition.

"It's not the time for it, but you can just call me Kagome." The blue-eyed Shinigami smiled weakly at Orihime, rather relieved that Tatsuki was not seriously hurt, only knocked out cold from the blow.

The Hollow snarled, though it did back off and disappeared back into the wall.

"It really is you, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime looked delighted to see Ichigo, "But how come?" She blinked, tilting her head cutely.

"You can see us, Inoue?" Ichigo looked a bit surprised, his eyes drawn to the chain hanging down from Orihime's chest and he tensed once he recalled Rukia's words before before.

"Shinigami are spirits. They can only be seen by other spirits."

Did that mean... Orihime was already dead?