Hey y'all!!!!!!!!! Welcome to the newest chapter of my fanfiction (even though no one's reviewed yet... -frowns darkly- Oh well. I'll keep posting and hopefully someone'll review...
Here's the next chapter and enjoy! If you don't understand anything feel free to ask me!

-o0o-

Chapter 5:

-o0o-

Rukia nodded at Ichigo before hitting him over the head. For the first time Akira noticed the glove she wore. It was red and fingerless with a picture of a skull on it. It must have something in it that dispelled the soul from the body. Ichigo's body immediately crumpled, falling in a heap on the bed behind him. He was in his shinigami outfit again. There was something about Ichigo when he was dressed like that. The black outfit seemed to highlight his strangely orange hair and the red sash like thing holding his sword to his back looked like many little drops of blood joined together. Akira smiled as he looked at Ichigo. He'd made the right dicision.

"What's the quickest way to get to Inoue's?" Ichigo asked Rukia. She'd come through his wall after all, she must know some faster ways to travel then to run.

"I'll climb on your back," she told him. "All you need to do is use your spititual pressure to help you jump from ledge to ledge. It's easy enough after the first time and it is much quicker than running. It's a basic skill taught at the Shinigami academy. It can also be used so that you hover in mid air and it gives you greater height to your jumps so you can go higher and travel farther. It is hard to master it completely but you should be able to travel a short distance. Push your Reiatsu downwards."

"There's only room for one person," Akira pointed out. Ichigo was strong but there was no way he'd be able to carry both Rukia and Akira when he was trying to run. It'd be impossible, even for Ichigo. "I'll stay."

"You sure?" Ichigo asked him. Akira didn't often volinteer to stay behind. He liked to be near the action, near Ichigo just as Ichigo liked to be near Akira. They had each others' back.

"Yeah," Akira told him. "I'd only slow you down. Go ahead but you'd better come back." He said the last part with a teasing smile but there was a hidden seriousness in his eyes along with a hint of worry. Ichigo sensed it and gave Akira a small brotherly hug.

"No worries," Ichigo gold him with a cocky smirk on his face. "I'll handle this in no time. Let's go Rukia."

The short girl nodded and quickly scrambled onto Ichigo's back. She wasn't that much bigger than Yuzu or Karin so he was able to carry her without much dificulty. Ichigo breathed in deeply before running at the window and jumping, leaving Akira behind in the empty room.

Akira stared after his big brother as he watched Ichigo jump from roof top to roof top. He looked like one of those superheros out of an American cartoon or comic book. What was that show again? Oh yes, X-men. Akira grinned to himself. Ichigo did act a little like one of the characters from the show, just younger and without the claws or smoking habbit.

Akira looked around their bedroom before shifting Ichigo's body so that it simply looked like the teen was sleeping. Akira pulled the blankets over the soulless body before turning back to the desk and completing the remainder of his homework before switching off the desk lamp he'd been working by and sat on his own bed. The large light in the room was off and the room was simply lit by a small lamp on the shared bed side table. It was just enough light to see by and it wasn't enough to blind the eyes.

The house was quiet so Akira decided that it was about time he started his meditating. He'd forgotten about it yesterday. Who wouldn't when a hollow comes crashing into your home? He'd need to do it tonight though. If he wanted to master Oclumency then he'd have to master meditating and clearing his mind first of all.

Oclumency was the study of shielding the mind from invaders. There were a few different ways to do this but the first step to all these methods was to clear the mind and that state of clarity was only available by meditating. Some took to the excercise quite easily while others found it extremely difficult. Akira personally thought he was somewhere in between the two.

Akira didn't sit in the usual position for meditating. Instead he leaned back against his pillows slightly so that his back was supported and closed his eyes. Sometimes he was even able to do it while pacing. Ichigo termed it 'active meditation'.

He closed his eyes and began to focus on his breathing. In...out...in...out...over and over again. He felt his pulse slow as he continued the deep breathing. In through the nose and out through the mouth. His muscles unclenched and he could feel his body sagging slightly against the pillow behind him. Good, that meant it was working. He continued his inner mantra of 'in' and 'out' for another few minutes before stopping, simply allowing his body to continue on it's own without any prompts. He didn't force his mind blank, that was the last thing he needed to do. By trying to force the mind to not focus on anything the task of meditation became harder and sometiems impossible. It was not a forceful thing and by focussing too hard on clearning your mind you unintentionally filled it. It had taken Akira a while to finally get that through his head but eventually he'd learned.

In...out...in...out...in...out. The manta continued. Akira could feel himself sinking, sinking into himself as he continued meditating.

This was the furthest he'd been able to achieve so far. It was hard, letting everything go to get into this state. Finally, after what felt like an eternity he resurfaced. He turned his head to look at the clock on the bed side table. It was a full half an hour later. Ichigo wasn't back yet but he wasn't concerned. Ichigo coule handle himself and he doubted that Rukia would let anything happen to him. With that in mind Akira turned off the lamp, curled up on his side and drifted to sleep, images of Ichigo kicking Hollow's asses engraved into his brain.

-o0o-

On their way to school the next morning Ichigo told Akira about what had happened at Inoues. To say the least Akira was surprised. Maybe he'd underestimated Inoue a bit. If she was able to face a hollow, even if it was her brother, then the girl definitely had some backbone after all.

"That wasn't the weirdest part though," Ichigo continued after telling Akira about sending Sora to Soul Society. "What really surprised me was Tatsuki."

"Really?" Akira asked. "How come?"

-o0o-

Flashback

-o0o-

Ichigo jumped from building to building, racing as fast as he could towards Inoue's house. It was hard. He pushed his reiatsu into his feet as he ran. It felt strange and his movements were jerky and slightly out of control. He had to keep it together though. He wouldn't let someone he knew get hurt. Rukia was climging onto him, directing him as they went. He knew the way but it felt different when he was actually going along the buildings instead of using the streets so her directions were definitely appreciated.

As they approaced the house Ichigo felt it, the strange feeling he got whenever a hollow was around. He sped up, pushing more power to his legs.

"Not so much!" Rukia told him as she clung to him tighter. "Too much and you'll end up making yourself crash into a building!"

He ignored her for now and continued sppeding towards the source of the feeling.

'Hang on Inoue,' he thought. 'Here I come'.

As he reached the street he looked in the window of Inoue's house and what he saw made his eyes widen and he froze.

He saw Inoue on the floor, unconcious. He could just make out the shape of a hollow's arm from where he was standing but that wasn't what was making him stare. Between Inoue and the hollow stood Tatsuki. She was clearly glaring at it and her arms were raised in a defensive stance. What disturbed Ichigo were two things. First of all that Tatsuki could see the hollow in the first place. Since when could she see ghosts? The second thing explained it though. Connecting to her chest was a silver chain that connected her to a limp body lying beside Inoue.

"Oh shit," Ichigo muttered. "This isn't good."

-o0o- Inside the house -o0o-

Tatsuki glared at the momster in front of her. It was big and ugly. It was a reddy-brown colour except for it's face which was bone white. The mouth was stretched into a malicious grin as it stared at them. It's eyes were two red pinpricks in black voids.

"Stand aside," it ordered. "I do not care for you. I want Orihime,"

"Well too bad!" Tatsuki said defiantly. "You want her you'll have to go through me first!" She raised her right fist a little higher to illistrate her point as she glared at the thing. There was no way it was getting anywhere near Orihime if she had anything to do with it.

"So be it then," the thing said before it raised one if it's clawed hands and swung at her.

Tatsuki braced herself, closed her eyes and formed an 'x' shape with her arms, atempting to block at least part of the blow. What happened next shocked both her and the hollow. She felt a strange warmth spread through her and she opened her eyes. The source of the warmth was coming from the necklace she always wore. She looked down to see the necklace pulsing slightly, glimmering with a violet light.

"What the hell?" she muttered as she stared at it. The necklace was comprised of six leaves coloured a deep violet. The veins of the leaves were picked out in a slightly lighter shade and they were joined by the ends which formed a star like shape with a violet jem holding them together. Akira had given it to her on her last birthday. She didn't have anymore time to think however as suddenly the hollow shook off it's shock and swiped at her again. Her arms were still raised and as she grit her teeth and got ready to try and block it the necklace pulsed again. This time however the light from the necklace spread, moving along her shoulders, along her arms and focussing on the area between her elbows and wrists. THey glowed bright violet and as the creature brought it's clawed hand down on her crossed arms. Just when Tatsuki thougth it'd tear right through her arms it stopped. Vibrations went through her body at the force of the impact. What the hell? How did her arms stop that thing? Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that though. She still needed to protect Orihime and thinking wasn't going to make that happen.

Tatsuki acted on pure instinct. She took a deep breath and quickly pushed back, surprising the hollow enough that it was forced back slightly.

"Why you little..." It let out a deafening roar. Tatsuki had to cover her ears. The hollow took the chance she unwittingly offered and swiped at her again, knocking her back and making her hit her head on the wall behind her.

-o0o- Outside Building -o0o-

"What are you waiting for!" Rukia demanded. She was just as surprised as Ichigo, possibly more so, but this was not the time to be thinking about that. "Move! Are you just going to stand here while they get devowered by that hollow?"

That was all the prompting Ichigo needed. Replacing his usual scowl on his face he took a deep breath before qukckly entering Inoue's house through the shattered window.

-o0o-

End Flashback

-o0o-

After Sora had been sent to the soul society Rukia had managed to return both Inoue and Tatsuki to their bodies. She'd then done a memory wipe, clearing the memory of last night's events from their minds. Akira had frowned when hearing about this. It sounded an awful lot like what the Brittish wizards did after the Statute of Secrecy was breached.

"They were not harmed," Rukia assured him quickly. "I do not approve of this method entirely but it is necessary in these situations. If they knew about the ghosts and hollows then it would put them in greater danger."

"What about Tatsuki?" Akira asked.

"I don't know," Rukia admitted reluctantly. "I haven't come accross anything like this and, as far as I am aware, neither has anyone else in the Seireitei. For now I think we should just watch her."

"Fine," Akira replied. "What'll happen to their memories exactly?"

"The memories are still there," Rukia explained. "They are just surpressed and new ones are created. These depend greatly on the imagination of the person being targetted."

"So it could be anything?" Ichigo asked.

"Anything," Rukia confirmed. "We'll just have to wait and see."

They found out soon enough. It was all over school.

"I'm telling you!" Inoue was saying to a group of their fellow students as they entered the classroom. "It's what really happened!"

"Yeah right!" one of the students said, a kid with short black hair and unremarkable brown eyes. "You seriously expect us to believe that some Yakuza wannabees broke into your place last night? On motorbikes shaped like different types of fish?"

"It really happened!" Inoue insisted. "Didn't it Tatsuki?"

Tatsuki gave a noncomittal noise in reply before turning back around in her chair and rubbing her head. Akira could practically feel himself sweatdropping. He was pretty sure Ichigo and Rukia were doing the same. That girl had one very strange imagination.

The day passed in relative normalty for the rest of the time they were in school. So, what that basically means is that everyone was pretty much bored out of their minds in their classes. Finally the final bell rang and they were free to escape.

As they were making their way out of the school building they ran into someone. He was tall, way taller than Ichigo with brown hair the covered his eyes slightly. It was obvious that he wasn't completely Japanese. He was holding a bird cage with a parakeet inside.

"Hey Chad," Ichigo greeted. He, Akira and Chad were good friends. They'd bee close ever since they'd met when they'd helped Chad out of a sticky situation with some bullies. Well, Chad could have handled it by himself but he didn't like to fight for what he considdered selfish reasons.

"Ichigo," Chad rumbled. He looked from Ichigo to Akira to Rukia. "New friend?"

"Yeah," Ichigo replied. "This is Rukia Kuchiki. Rukia, this is Yasutora Sado but we just call him Chad."

"Nice to meet you," Rukia said politely, holding out a hand for the big teen to shake.

"What've you got there Chad?" Akira asked as he looked at the bird. It was staring at them and Akira got the feeling that there was more to that little birdie then met the eye.

"I got him a while ago," Chad answered. "He's suposed to be cursed."

"Cursed?" Akira asked. That definitely didn't sound good. If they weren't in such a public place then he might take out his wand and to a check on the bird but it was way too risky, plus Chad and Rukia didn't know about his magic so it most definitely wasn't a good idea.

"Yeah," Chad answered. "Apparently whoever owns this bird has some sort of accident."

"Are they fatal?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Chad replied. "I need to go. See you later Ichigo, Akira, Rukia." With that Chad turned and made his way down the street, the bird cage safely clutched in his strong hand.

"There's something off about this," Akira muttered as he stared after Chad.

"Definitely," Ichigo agreed.

"I got a strange feeling from the bird," Rukia said thoughtfully. "It was not normal."

"What could it be?" Akira asked.

"I don't know," Rukia muttered, her eyes narrowed as she gazed at Chad's retreating back.

-o0o-

Ichigo cursed as he dodged another blow from the hollow. Damn it but this one was annoying. Behind him he heard Akira tell him to duck. He did so without thinking and, thankfully, dodged another attack by the ugly-ass hollow.

"Damn it brat!" The hollow boomed. "Hold still!"

"Not a chance in hell!" Ichigo retorted before raising his sword to block the hollow. "Why the hell are you chasing this kid anyway?"

"It's simple really," the hollow said, almost conversationally. "I'm having fun."

"Fun?" Akira and Ichigo asked at the same time.

"Exactly," the hollow replied. "He's the reason I'm like this. Before I died I would be what you considdered a 'criminal'. I enjoyed what I did and I was good at it, I hadn't been caught, not enough evidence to catch me. Then one night I decided to have a little 'fun' after I saw this kid's mother enter her house. I followed her and well, had my fun." The hollow laughed. Ichigo's eyes narrowed more and he hissed like an angry cat. Akira was glaring at the hollow. Rukia was injured from keeping the hollow destracted so she couldn't really do much.

"After I'd finished with her," the hollow continued. "I was about to be on my way when this little brat got in my way. We fell over the edge of the railing and we died. I've been following the brat ever since, said that if he could keep outta my jaws for a month then I'd bring his precious 'mommy' back." The hollow laughed sickeningly at this and Akira felt a shiver run up his spine.

"How the hell is that possible?" Ichigo demanded.

"You fool!" It laughed. "It's not! I lied to the brat. Of course I couldn't bring his little 'mommy' back! It was all a sport and I've enjoyed every single delicious moment of it. Thanks to this kid I've gotten my claws into o many tasty souls, including yours!" with that the hollow lunged forward and opened it's mouth as if to eat Ichigo whole. Ichigo was too swift though and quickly leapt back so all it got was a mouthful of concrete.

"You bastard," Ichigo growled at it before leaping forward and swinging his sword down, atempting to cleave it's mask in half. He missed as the hollow dodged to the right and he managed to cut a long gash down the creature's arm. It howled in pain before spinning and trying to swipe at him again.

"I'll get you for that Shinigami," it hissed.

"Come and get me then," Ichigo challenged.

Meanwhile Akira had made his way over to Rukia and was looking her over. She'd done a good job of destracting the hollow before they'd come but she was pretty battered up. She had a few cuts and bruises running along her arms, legs and a couple on her face. Her right wrist was swollen and her left leg was bent at a slightly awkward angle.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I tried to dodge him and I wasn't fast enough," Rukia answered, sounding slightly bitter. "This body is so slow. My reflexes are not what they should be. I avoided his claws but unfortunately he managed to throw me into the wall behind me."

Akira lifted her wrist gently to check it. Rukia hissed at the pain the slight movement caused. Akira quickly apologized and bent his head to study it. From his brief training he could tell that it wasn't broken, just badly sprained. That was good at least. Her leg on the other hand was another matter. He was pretty sure that it was broken. Now he had a problem. Should he tell her about his magic? She'd told them about being a Shinigami and she'd given her powers to Ichigo. He knew about her but she didn't know about him. Was it fair that he was keeping it from her? Akira sucked in a breath before coming to a snap decision. He'd worry about the consequences later.

He quickly flicked his wrist and his wand snapped from the hidden pocket of his sleeve into his hand. It'd taken him a while to master that little trick but once he had it'd come in real handy. It only worked if his wand was within two feet of his body unfortunately so it was no use for summoning it from long range distances but it was still handy.

"What is that?" Rukia asked as she stared at the fancy 'stick' Akira was holding.

"You'll see," Akira replied. "Just hold still for a bit okay?." Rukia nodded warily but did as she was told. Akira took a deep breath before raising his wand and pointing it at her wrist which he'd let go of a minute ago.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered. "Suringuni Baindo" (Bind in a sling)

Immediately a thick cloth issued from the tip of Akira's wand and began to wind itself around Rukia's wrist. She gasped as it wrapped around her arm before Akira flicked his wand and a portion of it went around her neck and tied off making a sling.

"What the-"

"Not now!" Akira told her quickly. "I'll explain later. I think your leg's broken. If I get you a stick can you use it and me to lean on?"

"I think so," she replied carefully. Akira nodded before pointing his wand at a random brick and saying "Henkan" (Transform). As he did this he pictured the brick getting thinner and longer, it's stone atoms shifting into those of wood. Soon where the brick had once been there was a walking stick with a handle at the top shaped like a rabbit. Rukia shot him a slight glare but he only grinned at her. He couldn't resist. He'd seen her drawings and...lets just leave it at that.

Akira reached over and grabbed the stick and handed it to Rukia who grabbed it with her uninjured hand. Akira carefully grabbed her other shoulder and stood up, taking her with him carefully. Rukia hissed as she accidentally put pressure on her injured leg but quickly used the stick and Akira to balance. She panted slightly and Akira cast her a worried look.

"I'll be fine," she told him resolutely. She turned back to the fight and noticed that Ichigo was beginning to get the upper hand on the hollow.

"Take this!" Ichigo shouted as he swung his blade in a downwards ark, almost completely severing the hollow's right arm. It screeched in pain before using it's uninjured arm to swipe at Ichigo who, unfortunately, didn't quite dodge it and was sent flying.

"Ichigo!" Akira and Rukia called. Akira couldn't go to him, he was helping Rukia. Thankfully Ichigo didn't need it though as he quickly charged the hollow again, raising his sword and stabbing the hollow in the leg.

"You little bastard!" The hollow shrieked.

"Look who's talking!" Ichigo retorted before jumping and swimging his sword so that it aimed for the hollow's neck. The creature knocked him aside though and Ichigo landed heavily. He struggled to his feet and growled at the hollow.

"I've had enough of this," Ichigo muttered as he stared at the hollow. "Time to end this."

Ichigo charged the hollow, ducking and dodging the swipes the creature sent his way. He wasn't going to back down this time. This bastard was not going to escape, not after what he put that kid through. The thought of the creature's lies gave Ichigo an extra boost of strength. He thought of his own mother and that was enough to push him over the edge. Raising his sword high he lept and broght it down hard on the hollow mask.

"Go to hell!" Ichigo yelled as he cleaved through the creature's skull before quickly jumping back to stand just in front of Akira and Rukia.

What happened next shocked Akira and Ichigo to their cores. Instead of just dissappearing like an ordinary hollow would the creature in front of them continued to writhe in pain. The ground began to shake and it seemed to get darker all of a sudden.

"What the hell's going on?" Ichigo demanded.

"Hell's gate," Rukia muttered.

"What?" Akira asked.

"When we purify a hollow," she explained. "We can only absolve the deeds done while that person was a hollow. Any evil comitted by a soul when it was still human we cannot effect. The evil ones, the truly twisted and demented beings who becoem hollows, we cannot save them. They are bound by their choices to face hell's gate."

As she had been speaking a huge gateway had appeared behind the hollow. It gave off a menacing prescense and Akira felt a shiver go through him as he stared at it. The gate slowly began to open, showing a red mass of swirling energy. The hollow howled as the energy began to suck him in, drawing him into it's torrential vortex.

"What's happening to him?" Akira asked.

"He's being taken by the gate," Rukia answered, still leaning heavily on him. "He won't be able to harm anyone anymore, ever."

"You sure?" Ichigo asked.

"Positive," Rukia answered resolutely. "Now, we need to proform a konso."

"Not quite yet," Ichigo replied. "Chad and the kid need to say goodbye."

-o0o-

"Alright," Rukia said as she stared at Akira and Ichigo. "Start explaining please."

The three of them were in Ichigo's room. Rukia was on Akira's bed, stretched out so that her broken leg was resting comfortably. When they'd gotten back to the house they'd managed to sneak past Isshin and the twins to get upstairs. Akira had then proceeded to quickly proform a bone mending charm before wrapping Rukia's leg in thick bandage to make sure that it was undesturbed until it healed. She'd need to keep it still for the next few hours, possibly the next day or so, before it was back to normal. A trained medic-wizard would be able to heal it completely but Akira had only taken the beginner healing course so it was the best he could do. Akira and Ichigo were sitting on Ichigo's bed facing her. Akira sighed as he stared at the black haired Shinigami. 'Here goes nothing,' he thought.

"I'm a wizard," he said bluntly. "After regular school I get tutored to use magic."

"Magic?" Rukia asked, frowning. There wasn't any record of this in the Seireitei was there? She didn't think so. Wouldn't there be a mention of this somewhere? She put her thoughts aside for a moment and continued to listen to Akira as he began to explain. She found out about how he was adopted by the Kurosakis and that his birth name was Harry Potter. She heard stories of the magical communities in Japan and the UK. He'd glossed over the events taht had happened at the Dursleys but Rukia could tell there was more, especially since Ichigo had growned at the mention of the name of Akira's biological aunt, uncle and cousin. Finally Akira explained about the lessons he was taking, about the differnet courses and showed her one of his transfiguration books. She's skimmed through a couple of the pages as he talked but she barely understood a word of it, perhaps because it was an advanced book. Finally he'd finished.

"Could you show me something?" Rukia asked him. "Appart from medical magic I mean. I've seen you do that enough thank you." She gestured at her leg with her newly healed wrist. Akira nodded before a mischevious grin spread accross his face. Ichigo saw the look and backed up slightly. He knew that grin way too well. Akira usually got that look on his face when he was planning something.

"No problem Rukia," Akira said brightly. He raised his right hand and, without his wand, cast one of the first charms he'd learned. "Kuchu Fuyu Suru!"

Immediately Rukia was lifted into the air. She yelped as she felt herself floating in mid air. She glared at Akira who was grinning. Ichigo by now was laughing, seeing it as payback for when she'd bound him with her kido. Akira waved his hand about, directing Rukia in the air so that she floated in a figure of eight.

"Alright!" she shouted at him. "Now, put me down!"

"Alright," Akira said, still grinning. He carefully lowered his hand and set her gently on the bed, careful not to go to fast in case he accidentally jarred her still healing leg. "Good enough for you Rukia?" She nodded. She'd need to talk to Uarahara about this. Come to think of it she needed to see him anyway. She needed some fixers for her Gigai, perhaps that would increase her reflexes a bit. She hated being in a Gigai, most Shinigami did. It felt restricting and uncomfortable, like you were in a really small room with no doors or windows.

"Can your magic be used on Hollows?" she asked Akira curiously. If so then it could be potentially useful. Akira shook his head though.

"I don't think so," he replied. "I tried to use a stunner when we saw the first hollow at the house. It didn't work, it just passed right through it."

"Any idea why that is?" Ichigo asied.

"Not a clue so far," Akira replied dismally. He was annoyed that he couldn't be more help. What use was his magic if he couldn't use it to help his big brother out of trouble when he was fighting Hollows? Rukia had a lot to consider. Her head was spinning slightly and she decided that it'd all make more sense after a good night's sleep.

"Can one of you help me into the wardrobe?" Rukia asked. "It's getting late adn I'm tired."

"Sure," Ichigo replied, getting up and carefully lifting Rukia up. Akira opened the wardrobe door and Ichigo set Rukia down on the makeshift bed she'd created for herself. "See you tomorrow Rukia."

"Night," Akira told her as the door was closed.

"Goodnight Ichigo, Akira," Rukia replied as she lay back, pulled a blanket over herself and went to sleep, her dreams full of wand waving people wearing pointy hats."

-o0o-

Did you guys like it? Hope so! Review please!