If this story seems familiar, know you're not mistaken. I've taken up TealEyedBeing's invitation to write an alternate continuation of his story as he has abandoned this work (sorry to the people who also follow my other works; I couldn't resist the ideas in my head). The first six chapters are mostly his, with a few additions to make it fit my ideas a bit better (yes, I made sure to get permission for that). On his request I'll also mention Nate Grey here, as his 'The Humane Hollow' had inspired TealEye to write 'Our Hollow Brother'. Few facts TealEye apparently saw as important to mention: main deviations from canon are that Ichigo is already a Hollow when this story begins and Yuzu can see spirits like Karin and Ichigo. There is some risk of mild OOCness, as always when you put characters in a situation they've never been in before.

From what I could tell there have been almost a thousand people who were interested in this story. My hope is that some still remain.

Other than that, the only thing I got to say is: please enjoy!

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Our Hollow Brother

Chapter 1 – Protective

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"Ichi-nii-chan! Where are you? It's time for bed!" a young, light-brown haired girl named Yuzu called out quietly into the darkness of her home's backyard as she stood in the open door frame. She only had to wait a moment before a menacing creature easily three times her size landed in the yard with a soft thump and slunk over to her.

Its large, white form was covered in blood red markings,and intimidating spikes adorned both broad shoulders. Wickedly clawed hands and feet big enough to crush a hapless little Human girl, gold and black eyes glowing behind a toothed red-striped mask, a thick reptilian tail, and an overall daunting and fearsome presence that oozed strength; all of that should have given the young human girl a rightful fright. Would have, if this creature named Kurosaki Ichigo hadn't been Yuzu's deceased older brother.

The small brunette giggled when her older sibling let out an echoing purr and carefully nuzzled her cheek with the teeth on his mask before he began audibly sniffing over her, searching for any injuries she might have acquired while he had been briefly away to kill a Hollow that had come too close to their home for his liking. He gave a concerned rumble when he came across a tiny, shiny burn on her left thumb. The Hollow tilted his head up at her in question, crouched low in front of her. The only reason why he had to was because she stood on the doorstep.

"I'm okay, Onii-chan! It doesn't even hurt!" Yuzu reassured her brother with a cheerful smile, loosely clasping her hands in front of her.

Ichigo's eyes shone with humored exasperation and the supernatural creature held out a hand to her, palm up and fingers inviting.

"But it's okay, Onii-chan!" the eleven year old girl persisted, hiding her injured hand with her other, not wanting to be a bother when the burn could just as easily heal in its own time.

The white hand held out to her flexed, insisting that she'd place her own hand within it. Yuzu sighed fondly at her brother's protective nature and placed her hand in Ichigo's. He gently turned it over so the palm was facing up and the Hollow meticulously inspected the petite, vastly different hand more closely, searching for any other burns. Once satisfied there were none, Ichigo turned his attention to the small welt on Yuzu's thumb. His mask's teeth separated and his long, cat-like tongue gently licked over the burn once. The wound fizzled painlessly for a short moment before healing completely, not even the tiniest scar remaining on the restored skin.

Despite her protests that it hadn't hurt, Yuzu still looked relieved to be no longer hindered by the minor injury. Ichigo's dark eyes flashed knowingly at her and he briefly pressed his mask against her cheek again, mimicking a familial kiss. With a smile the eleven year old placed her own kiss on the aggressive red stripes of his mask's left cheekbone before she stepped back inside their house, confident her brother would follow. Ichigo did just that, claws clicking quietly on the linoleum floor and his long, thick tail trailing slowly behind him in an effort to keep from knocking anything over; something that had happened quite a lot during his first weeks as a Hollow. Yuzu closed and locked the door behind him, flicking off the light switches before following him further inside.

Inside the ceiling was too low for him to stand up straight, so instead Ichigo moved on all fours through the house, his large frame doing him no favors indoors. There were several walls in the house where slightly off-color patches of paint marked the places where he had accidentally scratched the plaster with the sharp spikes on his shoulder. Fortunately practice made perfect, and Ichigo had become quite adept at maneuvering his large body in confined spaces without damaging anything.

"Will you carry me, Ichi-nii-chan?" Yuzu asked hopefully. It was one of the many, many things that could only be done within the safety of their home. Other people couldn't see Ichigo, so him carrying her anywhere else was out of the question, but she often missed the closeness other siblings took for granted.

Ichigo chuckled at the familiar request, wrapping his tail gently around Yuzu's slight waist before lifting her onto his back, moving towards the stairs. The bedroom Yuzu shared with her sister was on the next floor. The brunette giggled, seating herself comfortably on his broad back and giving him an impulsive hug. An rumbling huff of contentment drifted back to her ears when she played with his long mane of unruly orange hair.

Ichigo climbed the stairs with fluid ease, slinking down the short hallway and nosing the half-closed bedroom door fully open. Yuzu's dark haired twin Karin, was already inside, sitting up on her own bed and reading a manga. She looked up briefly when her Hollow brother came in with Yuzu atop of him. The raven haired girl rolled her eyes at the common sight and put her book on the bedside table before laying down and getting settled for the night.

Ichigo's tail lifted Yuzu off his back and gently lowered the small girl in her bed. As soon as she lay down, he snagged the edge of her blanket with the tips of his claws and draped the comforter over her, gingerly tucking his baby sister with another loving nuzzle to her forehead. Once he had assured himself that his youngest sister was comfortable, he turned and inspected his other sibling.

Karin rolled her eyes again as Ichigo also sniffed her over for possible injuries. She was confident that he would find nothing wrong when one clawed finger suddenly tapped her knee and the eleven year old twitched in pain, cursing when she realized she had revealed herself. Her brother hummed knowingly and gestured for her to let him see her knees.

She grudgingly did as he'd requested, knowing he wouldn't leave her alone until he had healed her. Once she had pulled down her blanket and bent her legs, Ichigo sniffed critically over her scraped knees before running his blue tongue across the wounds soothingly. Like Yuzu's small burn, the raw wounds instantly healing with an odd fuzzy sensation Karin could never decide was tickling or not, and faded away to become nothing but a memory thanks to her brother's ability.

Karin held in a sigh of relief as the mild pain no longer assaulted her but then failed to keep in a embarrassed squeak when Ichigo unexpectedly hooked her right arm into the air and inspected her elbow, checking to see if she had acquired any scrapes there as well. Once confirming another wound's presence, he healed it, as well as the one on her left elbow and on the palms of both her hands. She'd practiced skating when he'd been gone and much to her chagrin it hadn't gone as well as she'd liked. Ignoring her disgruntled looks Ichigo checked her over one last time.

Once the Hollow deemed her injury free and tucked her in comfortably too. Ichigo chuckled throatily when Karin swatted at him for nuzzling her.

"Ichi-nii!" Karin protested when the Hollow persisted in nuzzling her until she pushed at his red striped mask with both her small hands and scowled at him. "Quit it," she demanded, fighting to keep a smile off her face when her older brother purred at her like a playful kitten. She suspected she failed, but then again, this was her brother, so it didn't matter that much anyway. He already knew she wasn't really angry.

Ichigo withdrew obediently, going back across the room to nuzzle Yuzu once more in his own version of a good night kiss. Then he turned to flick off the light, before retreating back to the center of the room and curling up on the carpet between Yuzu's and Karin's beds.

He began to purr, a rumbling, soothing lullaby that, true to its purpose, encouraged the girls to sleep. Yuzu rolled over onto her stomach and dangled her hand off the bed to tangle her fingers in Ichigo's mane. She fell asleep that way, comforted by the fact that her older brother was close by. Karin curled up on her side, facing her siblings before she too fell into a peaceful slumber.

Ichigo continued to purr, knowing the sound helped his sisters in their sleep, but didn't sleep himself. He wouldn't rest because of the other Hollow he had devoured earlier might attempt to take over, and he would never allow that to happen. He also needed to stay awake just in case any other Hollow showed up too near their house and he would have to kill it to protect his beloved baby sisters.

As a spirit he didn't need sleep anyway.

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Karin grumbled when she was coaxed awake by something smooth nudging her. Without opening her eyes she swatted at it and the nudging stopped. Believing she had solved the problem she let her hand drop. However, it soon came back with renewed vigor and huffed loudly right into her ear. Karin growled in annoyance and pushed weakly at the offender. Her eye cracked open into aggravated slits a few seconds later to see Ichigo's black-and-gold eyes looking mischievously down at her from behind his grinning mask.

The girl groaned and rolled over, attempting to return to sleep, but her brother was having none of it. She felt a clawed hand wrap around her ankle and before she could sit up and protest, she was pulled up into the air and hung upside down above her bed. "Ichi-nii!" Karin bellowed, arms and free leg flailing, trying to hit the Hollow holding her upside down. "Alright, alright, I'm up! Let me down now!" she demanded, voice croaky from sleep.

Ichigo snickered triumphantly and set her back down on the bed with stressed gentleness, ducking to avoid a socked foot to the face. It irked her how her brother's mask made him look like he was grinning insanely at her. Though Karin suspected the face underneath mirrored the expression right now. She grumbled at him as she got out of bed. Pleased, Ichigo left the room, closing the door behind him with his tail and creeping stealthily downstairs and into the kitchen where Yuzu was already up and making breakfast.

The brunette squealed when she was suddenly scooped up into a pair of strong white-and-red arms and cradled like a baby with Ichigo humming softly at her. "Ichi-nii-chan!" Yuzu cried, giggling at the nuzzling she received – her brother's affectionate 'good morning' routine. Ichigo set her back down on her feet before the stove, before calling up the stairs.

"Karin! Get up!" His rough, double toned voice sounded like he was speaking from some air bubble underwater. He often avoided talking because of how unnatural it sounded, preferring to use actions to express himself rather than words, but he didn't mind too much to speak when he wanted or needed to.

"I am up!" Karin groused as she stomped down the stairs and plopped in a dining room chair. She swatted at Ichigo when he nuzzled her good morning and swore when she saw that her shoelaces were tangled in knots.

Ichigo laughed quietly and gently guided her sleep-clumsy fingers away from her red tennis shoes and deftly unknotted the laces. Claws might be awkward most of the time, but they were quite useful undoing tangles like this one. Soon he was done, leaving Karin to put them on and tie them up. The black haired girl mumbled thanks to both Ichigo and Yuzu, who had just placed breakfast on the table for the two of them to eat. Ichigo didn't eat with them – it would only be a waste because it did nothing to lessen his hunger – but he stayed at the table anyways, softly asking in his echoing voice what they would be doing today in school.

Karin mumbled something unintelligible but Yuzu replied whole-heatedly. "We're reading poetry today, Onii-chan," she announced cheerfully. Ichigo leaned towards her, interested and silently urging her to continue. Yuzu nodded while eating, pausing to chew. "I was thinking about asking my teacher if I could borrow a book so we can read it together!" the brunette chirped pleasantly.

Her Hollow brother hummed his consent, gently ruffling her hair to convey how much he liked that idea.

Yuzu beamed at him and finished eating, taking her and Karin's plates to the sink once they were done and washed them quickly before she rushed to put on her shoes. Ichigo handed them their schoolbags, fussing over them for a minute to make sure they looked perfectly presentable. After checking whether they both had their house keys and all materials for the day he ushered them out, locking and closing the door behind him. Together the twins set out towards their school, Ichigo following along beside them, walking on all fours to bring himself on their level. With the way his body was shaped it was easier than walking like a Human anyway.

Yuzu suddenly remembered that she had a quiz today and so Ichigo began quizzing her about the things he had learned from helping her with her homework. She answered each of his questions flawlessly, even going so far as to correct him when he got something wrong himself because his education on the subject was haphazard at best, and beamed when he confidently assured her that she'd ace the quiz. Karin rolled her eyes fondly but otherwise didn't comment.

They made it to school without any interruptions and Ichigo bid them an affectionate goodbye, wishing them a good day. The Hollow watched them walk inside the school building before he turned and opened a garganta to head into Hueco Mundo.

Moving through the darkness of the no man's land between the Worlds, Ichigo felt a surge of anxiety. He was only one or two Hollows away from becoming a Gillian but that in and on itself proved problematic. If he became a Gillian right away it would mean that he'd have to leave Karin and Yuzu alone for longer than a day, as there was no way he'd be able to hide in Karakura in such an enormous form. He needed to become stronger to more easily defeat any Hollow, to protect his remaining family, but at the same time he also needed to be inconspicuous enough that he could still reside in the Human Wold without any Shinigami noticing.

To circumvent the problem Ichigo had made plans to evolve to Gillian and then immediately afterwards to Adjuchas. Preferably before his sisters got out of school, though he had warned them he might run late. Still, so far he had always picked them up and he had no intention to break his tradition today.

The plan in itself was rather simple. If a Gillian needed to eat a lot of other Gillian to evolve, then why couldn't he just eat one or two Adjuchas to speed up the process? But it was the execution that was likely to prove very challenging. Ichigo knew his chances of catching an Adjuchas in the huge lumbering form of a Gillian were as good as nonexistent, so he had to prepare in his current form. Which meant he would have to render one or more Adjuchas unconscious long enough for him to evolve and eat them. Right now there was a huge power difference between him and his future victims. It had taken a lot of preparation to work around that problem – studying and scouting the Menos Forest for the weakest Adjuchas, among other things – but he believed he was now ready to execute his plan.

A small hour later he was poised high up in a tree in the Menos Forest above an unconscious and rather powerful unevolved Hollow that was only slightly below him when it came to strength. This one Hollow would be enough to initiate Ichigo's transformation when the time came. Ichigo had placed his ambush at the edge of several weak Adjuchas' territories, waiting and hoping for one to show up soon to devour the helpless bait. Ichigo wasn't stupid. Ichigo was well aware that despite the fact that he was incredibly strong for an ordinary Hollow, there was no way he could win against an Adjuchas in a head-on battle, no matter how weak it was compared to others. Instead Ichigo was playing it safe with a carefully prepared ambush. Whatever Adjuchas fell for his trap, it would still contain the number of souls he needed, so it wasn't as if he would be impeding his growth by going for lesser prey.

He didn't have to wait too long until a birdlike Adjuchas appeared in the distance, obviously having caught the leaking reiatsu from the unconscious lure. It circled above Ichigo's victim a few times, looking around suspiciously for a trap, but Ichigo had concealed himself well and it couldn't even sense him – Ichigo had mastered the ability to hide his reiatsu a long time ago in order to stay hidden from Shinigami. He waited patiently until the Adjuchas decided it was safe enough and spiral down to eat it's scavenger meal. Ichigo's muscles tensed in preparation when the birdlike Hollow dropped its guard just enough to drop its head and expose its vulnerable neck to devour the bait.

Ichigo launched himself off of the branch he'd been perching on, his powerful leg muscles adding to his speed as he hurtled down towards the more powerful Hollow as fast as he could move, still completely unnoticed. He twisted almost soundlessly above the Hollow so that his tail was whipped into a blur of barely visible speed. The thick muscle viciously cracked against the back of the Adjuchas' nec., Ichigo hadn't dared to hold back an ounce of strength because of the differences between him and his prey. It paid off, as the Adjuchas immediately slumped onto the ground, its spinal cord snapped and its whole body paralyzed and silent, but still alive for the next part of Ichigo's plan.

Ichigo grinned triumphantly beneath his mask. He quickly made sure that neither Hollow would move anytime soon, before swiftly jumping back up the tree branches, traveling up onto his high perch to wait for another target. This time the wait was considerably shorter, as more reiatsu was leaked out into the open air. Another Adjuchas soon appeared, dog-like and considerably weaker than the first, lumbering carelessly up to what he deemed a free meal.

Ichigo realized with a jolt that the dumb brute wasn't nearly as cautious as the first had been and he had to use sonido to race down the tree with breakneck speed in order to reach the Adjuchas before it bit into one of the Hollows and completely ruined Ichigo's plan. The smaller Hollow yelped when the larger, red-patterned Hollow slammed into its back just as its teeth had been about to bite into the birdlike Adjuchas.

The sheer force of Ichigo's accelerated fall broke the Adjuchas' spine right in the middle, and a dust cloud erupted when the two collided in the sand. Ichigo himself was stunned briefly at the impact, but he was quick to clear the disorientation from his head and dig his claws into the back of the whimpering Adjuchas' neck, growling threateningly whenever the canine Hollow attempted to move its forelegs, its back end rendered completely useless from the collision.

Very pleased at how well his plan had worked, Ichigo quickly made sure the surrounding area was clear so he wouldn't be interrupted or attacked in the next stage of his plan. A sharp jab to the back of the struggling Hollow's' head rendered that one unconscious like the others, and Ichigo was now tasked to drag the two Adjuchas up into the tree so he could easily reach them after he had transformed. Their dead weight belied their small forms, but Ichigo was strong, young, and determined, and he managed the load with only a slight struggle.

Once he had securely lodged the two Adjuchas into the tree branches, the orange haired Hollow dropped back down to the ground and finally consumed the regular Hollow's mask, knowing that this was the last boost he needed to evolve. Power instantly surged through him as he evolved into a Gillian, the regular Hollow being drawn into his body as he changed.

For a moment Ichigo had to battle his sudden disorientation and the exited thrum of power within his veins, making him feel feverish and alive. Blood pounded in his ears as for a few heartbeats the world disappeared in a maelstrom of heady power. Then the world rushed back in, louder and clearer and more vibrant than before.

Ichigo shook his head and scowled beneath his mask. Now the initial rush was over his body felt painfully stretched, lumbering and near pathetic in maneuverability even if his new gargantuan size made his surroundings suddenly so much smaller and insignificant. Everything was dim and Ichigo immediately hated how sluggish his movements were. Luckily he would only have to suffer this form for a minute. Stepping closer to the tree, distantly glad that he had dragged the Adjuchas high enough to easily reach, Ichigo unfurled his long tongue to draw the Adjuchas into his mouth, devouring both of his victims in one massive gulp.

The effect was instantaneous. He evolved again, shrinking down to an even smaller size than his first Hollow form, looking much like his old self. The only differences were that he was slighter; more lithe and deadly, the spikes on his shoulder gone, a sickle-shaped barb on his tail tip, and red plated armor covering his entire body, excluding joints and other areas where he needed to bend, the palms of his hand, and his tail. His mask had also changed. The red stripes were a darker, deeper red, and the stripes angled more upwards to the top of his mask, which now formed a little more over his head like a skull rather than just a plate over his face. His long mane of thick orange hair was still as untamed as before and red tattoos could still be seen between the armor, giving the impression of linking the protective plates together.

With a shiver he curled up in the sands, fighting the vertigo that followed the rapid changes. Inside him he could feel the souls of the Hollows he had devoured riot and rage, just as affected by the rush of power and simultaneously attempting to break free of his hold and take over. Ichigo gritted his teeth and fought them back down, reestablishing his iron control through sheer stubbornness and bull-headed determination.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the souls within him accepted that they weren't going to win and subsided. Shaking his head, Ichigo re-orientated himself, trying to get an idea how long the mental struggle had lasted.

As luck would have it, it hadn't been too long, and he still had approximately an hour before he had to pick up Karin and Yuzu. Deciding to use his time wisely Ichigo began testing his new strengths and powers so he wouldn't accidentally harm either of his sisters, simultaneously familiarizing himself with his new size.

Vigorous experiments on trees and other Hollows resulted in concluding that an increase in power and speed aside, his Adjuchas powers were very similar to his previous abilities, which seemed to be significantly amplified to be more effective. It had not been a too big adjustment to learn how to pull his strengthened movements just enough to trust he wouldn't make a mistake and gentle enough to not even hurt a baby. Extremely pleased with himself, the oldest Kurosaki opened a garganta and traveled back to the Human World, only pausing a short moment to ensure his increased reiatsu remained at near-undetectable levels.

Ichigo crouched comfortably outside the school gate, his new, smaller-barbed tail lazily swinging through the air behind him as he waited, subconsciously careful not to hit any passerby who couldn't see him. He only had to wait a few minutes until the dismissing bell rang and the students were released.

Yuzu was soon walking towards him amidst the other children with a book hugged to her chest as Karin walked half a step behind her, the dark haired sister's small hands folded behind her red baseball capped head. Yuzu was the first to reach him and notice his transformation.

"Onii-chan, what happened? You've changed," she whispered so that no one would see or hear her apparently talking to nothing. She knew no one else but Karin could see their older brother and didn't want to be thought of as crazy as Ichigo and Karin had cautioned her of.

Ichigo purred at her. "I'm fine Yuzu. I just evolved and got stronger to better protect you both," he explained in the gentlest terms possible, not wanting to burden his more innocent sister with the details of how he had accomplished this transformation. It seemed to satisfy her and soon he ushered them alongside the sidewalk towards home.

Yuzu was happily chattering about her day to Ichigo, who was walking along on all fours to be her height. The short brunette was seemingly talking back to Karin, who remained silent as if listening. The dark-haired sister was actually observing her brother's new form. As usual, he looked perilously deadly, if not even more so now, but she had unwavering confidence that Ichigo would only do this to protect them better and she had no fears whatsoever that he would ever hurt them, even accidentally. He had always been very careful with his great strength and she knew he would never forgive himself if he ever would cause them pain.

"Karin?"

Karin jumped at her name having been called and looked up, not having realized that she had stopped walking while she had been musing over her brother's transformation reasons. "Uh, sorry. Was thinking," she offered as explanation, walking quickly again to join her siblings and walk beside Yuzu on the opposite side of Ichigo.

Yuzu began happily chattering again and Ichigo listened to her but kept shooting anxious looks towards Karin in concern for her momentary lapse. The trio reached home without any further incident and Yuzu immediately went into the kitchen to make an after-school snack for them before they started on their homework.

Ichigo lightly touched Karin's hand to gesture for her to follow him into the living room for a quick word. "Is something wrong?" he inquired quietly, his concern clearly heard even through his distorted voice. "I know I look rather... but you know I would never hurt either of you," he assured her, unable to come up with an appropriate term to suitably describe his fearsome appearance.

Karin nodded with a tiny, reassuring smile. "I know Ichi-nii. Sorry for worrying you. I really was just thinking how overprotective you are," she teased him with an eye roll and a faux-irritated crossing of her arms.

Ichigo scoffed, but the sound was saturated with relief so the effect was ruined. Karin customarily swatted at him when he nuzzled her, the motion oozing stressed gentleness and grateful affection. They were about to go join Yuzu in the kitchen when Ichigo suddenly stiffened and his head whipped around towards the door. He looked back around to Karin after a moment of silence.

"I'll be right back," the Hollow said quickly before he rushed off, completely ignoring the wall in his haste. It was easy to forget because of the way he usually acted, but Ichigo was a spirit and therefore could pass through solid objects without any effort if he wanted to.

Karin nodded even though her older brother was already gone, knowing the reason behind his abrupt exit was that another Hollow had showed up too near the house and he had gone to kill it before it could get any closer to them. She walked into the kitchen to tell Yuzu that Ichigo would be right back and to eat her snack.

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A raven-haired Shinigami blocked an attack from the Hollow that she was fighting and swung her Zanpakutou up to force it away from her, shunpoing back a few steps to gain more room to swing her blade. She was just about to release her Zanpakutou to end the drawn-out fight when a brilliant red Cero suddenly slammed into the Hollow before her. The dark clothed, seemingly young woman had to dive and roll tot he side to avoid getting hit as well.

Since her opponent was a rather powerful Hollow – hence the reason why she was still fighting and had been about to release her Shikai – it survived the attack, but just barely. Astonished, Kuchiki Rukia looked in the direction from where the powerful attack had originated from and was shocked to see a relatively small, lizard-like humanoid Hollow nearly completely covered in red armor shooting towards the weakened Hollow and herself.

The Shinigami had learned that Hollows ate other Hollows to evolve but she had thought they only did so in Hueco Mundo. Disregarding the currently useless thought, Rukia prepared herself for another fight, but was startled when the humanoid Hollow swiftly passed her without even a glance in her direction and pounced on the one that had previously been attacking her. She was surprised but fully prepared to see the new Hollow bite into the other and was shocked when it did not. Instead, the newcomer merely tore the other Hollow's head clean off and blankly watched it dissipate without so much as even opening its jaws. Rukia had never seen a Hollow merely killing another and was immediately put on guard. Her Nii-sama had informed her that those rare few that did were often intelligent and therefore exceedingly dangerous.

When the reptilian Hollow straightened to its full height of six-feet-something – which added to her worry, since its almost Human shape and size increased the odds of this creature indeed being intelligent – she noticed something odd. She couldn't detect any spiritual pressure. Her violet eyes widened. But that was impossible! With how easily this Hollow had killed the previous one it had to be powerful. Had this Hollow learned to hide it? The other option was that it did it subconsciously, or had a special cloaking ability. But why had it revealed itself? What would be the purpose of hiding its reiatsu when it was standing right in front of her?

Rukia prepared herself for an attack when it turned and faced her. She knew this one had to be powerful, even if she couldn't check its reiatsu levels. She'd have to jump to Shikai straight away, otherwise she would get killed for sure-

But the armored Hollow surprised her again. Instead of attacking, the strange Hollow slowly blinked gold-on-black eyes at her and swiftly jumped away, back in the direction it had come from. Baffled, she stared after it before her training kicked in and she gave chase. It was her job to purify all Hollows she came across and this was a Hollow, weird or not.

It suddenly changed its course, almost making a full turn when it realized she was following it. It led her to a park and landed silently before turning around and facing her, waiting for her to catch up. Rukia was perplexed. When the Shinigami touched down a safe distance away it spoke before she could.

"I don't have time for this. Why are you following me?" Its voice had the usual Hollow echo but it was also definitely masculine with a curious tone tinged with irritation. The fact that it used actual proper grammar when speaking and was astonishingly polite compared to most others of his kind – which was still pretty rude, but at least not as terribly aggravating – confirmed that this Hollow was indeed unusually intelligent and Rukia was right to be wary of it.

Hands still clasped tight around her sealed Zanpakutou, ready to unleash her Shikai any moment, Rukia narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the red-plated Hollow. "Why did you kill your brethren, Hollow?" she demanded, readying her stance for a possible attack.

"They're not my brethren," the Hollow snapped roughly, making Rukia tense in preparation, but still no attack was forthcoming. The Hollow's sickle-shaped tail swished irritably behind the tall, humanoid Hollow. "It just got too close." The Hollow seemed distracted when he said those words, masked face tilted slightly to his right as if seeing something she could not.

Rukia's eyebrow's rose. She hadn't been expecting that for an answer. "Too close to what?" she inquired, not daring to relax from her wary stance but willing to hold her attack in favor of getting some answers to this sudden mystery.

The Hollow's eyes slid back towards her and he was more guarded with his next answer. "You don't need to know that. Just be aware that if any enter my territory I will kill them," he stated, clearly avoiding giving her a direct location.

Rukia frowned at his answer. "Why? What's in this area that you would kill his own kind for?" The raven-haired Shinigami tried to tamper down her individual curiosity, instead trying to remain administrative in her questioning of this Hollow's motives.

"I won't tell you. I don't want them to be brought into this," the reptilian Hollow spat, obvious distaste in his voice – undoubtedly form her prodding – and before Rukia could say or do anything more he disappeared in a buzz of sonido so swift that she couldn't follow where he went, and without any reiatsu to follow she couldn't track him.

Rukia remained frozen stiff in her stance for a solid four minutes, every trained sense that she had on high alert just in case the Hollow tried to stage a surprise attack. By the fifth minute she felt safe to assume that the Hollow had just left and she exhaled silently as she finally allowed her tense muscles to unwind. He'd gotten away, but there was nothing more she could do about that when he was decidedly more powerful than she. But what kind of Hollow was he? And who or what did he mean by 'them'? The thought of more Hollows like him worried her. That had been no ordinary Hollow. If there were more with his power and abilities in this area she might be into far more danger than had been expected from this mission.

With one last wary look at her surroundings she sheathed her Zanpakutou and headed towards Urahara Kisuke's shop. Maybe he could possibly give her some answers to this strange Hollow's behavior and possibly the reasons behind them. With a being this powerful and clearly drawn to something in this area, she was quite sure the shopkeeper was at least aware of its existence.

Just in case it needs to be confirmed: Ichigo is now technically 15 while Yuzu and Karin are both 11, conform with canon.