Alright everyone! Now this chapter is where things REALLY start to get interesting! Hope you like it!

-o0o-

Chapter 6 -shrugs- Can't think of a title. Gomen nasai!

-o0o-

Akira was dreaming. Normally this would worry him, usually his dreams didn't turn out so well but this felt somehow...different.

He found himself standing under a canopy of tall trees with leaves of emreald green and bark as black as shadow. He looked at the leaves moe closely and felt his eyes go wide. Each leaf was a small, individual flame. The flames gave off no smoke, no sound as the flickered. Why weren't they burning the trees? The leaves gave little, if any at all, light. They certainly weren't a normal fire of any discription. Even Floo powder used by the European wizards gave off light and it was green. What kind of fire was it?

Deciding that he'd figure it out later he faced forwards. Before him was a rocky ledge. He carefully stepped forward and looked over the edge. He caught his breath at the sight. Stretched out before him was a forest. The many trees seemed to blend together as their branches stretched towards the sky. It was made up entirely of those strange fiery trees. The light was neither day or night, it was in between. The whole forest was caught in twilight. Long shadows spread accross the ground and branches swayed in an almost unfelt breeze. It was then that Akira noticed the tree.

Now, you're probably wondering what I'm referring to right? Well, there were many trees that Akira could see but this one was different. For one thing it was much larger than the rest of the forest. If he had to guess he'd say that it was aproximately three or four times bigger than the other trees. The branches spread out from the trunk and the fiery leaves glistened in the half light.

Akira closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The air was fresh and clear. The rock under his feet was hard and unforgiving but he paid that no heed, for now just enthralled by the sight before him.

A sudden flapping sound caught his attention. He opened his eyes and noticed something, a shadow. It had appeared from between two branches of the large tree and was headed towards him. Quickly he retreated from the outcrop and took shelter under the canopy of trees he'd hidden under earlier. What was it? Whatever it was it had looked big. Could it be a bird? But what bird would want to nest in trees who's leaves were made of fire?

The flapping was getting louder, whatever it was it was coming closer. Akira shut his eyes. Why did he never have his wand when he dreamed? Just once he'd like to have that luxury in a dream but no, fate hated him so he'd have to do without it.

Akira darted behind one of the larger trees, hoping that whatever it was wouldn't see him in the shadows. As it drew closer Akira could disern a few features, not many but a few. The creature, whatever it was, had four legs, two wings, a long tail and neck. The legs looked muscular but not overly so. They looked sleek and powerful. The wings were large and because of the poor light he couldn't see any detail, only the fact that the wings caught the little light there was and absorbed it. The tail was long and seemed to sway behind the creature as it flew, ending in a teardrop or flame shape. That was waht it looked like anyway, it was quite hard to tell. The neck was long, stretched out towards him. What really caught his attention were the eyes.

They were a deep, mesmerising emerald green. The pupils were slitted and a bright silver. The eyes stared out of the black mass that was the creature's face, steady, unblinking, unimaginably deep and ancient. It reared in mid air, flapping it's wings and let lose an earth shaking roar. Akira clutched at his ears. The sound had caught him off guard. He shut his eyes, breathing deeply. Whatever it was it almost looked like a-

-o0o-

Akira sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

"Okay," he muttered as he got his breathing under control. "What the hell was that?"

He didn't get an answer, he didn't expect one. He looked around the room. It was early morning, the sun not too high in the sky. He looked at his clock, 7:48. Good thing today was a weekend.

It had been a few days since the incident with the parakeet. Rukia's injuries had healed up nicely and she was back to normal. Akira had also been able to study his books in the open again, something he was grateful for. It was quite hard to hide something from someone who was living in your wardrobe after all. He'd given her a copy of one of the basic herbology books, figuring that that would be a book that she could actually understand. Herbology wasn't taht different from normal Biology, just with normal plants. Rukia had found the book quite interesting, reading through it and learning about the various types of magical plants. She'd especially taken interest in the 'healing and helping' area of teh book. That detailed plants taht could be used to relieve pain, act as laxitives or just generally improve health. Once or twice she'd muttered someting about 'Unohana-taicho finding this useful' or something like that.

Speaking of Rukia where was she? The wardrobe door was open so she wasn't in there. He looked around the room and noticed that there was a note left on the desk. He carefully got up and padded over to read the note.

Be back in a while, needed to collect some suplies. Don't worry. -Rukia

Where exactly did a Shinigami get suplies and what were they? He'd need to ask her when she got back. He'd worry about that later though. Since today there was no regular school he'd need to catch up on his homework. He'd managed to fall behind slightly because of all the fuss over the last few days and he needed to set that straight. Sighing to himself he pulled his transfiguration book towards him and started work.

-o0o- Urahara's Shop -o0o-

Rukia approached the building slightly cautiously. Urahara may have helped her but that didn't mean that she trusted the guy, not for one moment. He was a weird one, there was no doubt about that. He was useful though. She needed some fixers and, maybe more importantly, she needed information.

As she appraoched she noticed two children outside sweeping. One was a boy, a red head who was glaring at the other kid, a girl with black hair and a sad expression on her face. The girl said something and the boy started to yell at her and raised his fist to hit her.

"Hey!" Rukia yelled at him. "Leave her alone!"

The red headed kid turned to glare at her fiercly. "What're you gunna do about it?" he challenged her. Rukia smirked as the door behind the kid opened.

"I won't do anything," She replied, too sweetly. "But I think he will."

The kid turned around and was lifted by the back of his shrit by a large man wearing an apron and a sour look on his face.

"Jinta," the giant boomed. "What have I told you about disturbing the customers and hurting Ururu?"

"N-not to do it," Jinta stuttered.

"Good." With that the giant dropped Jinta back to the ground. Ururu reached out a hand to help him but he batted it away and stood up.

"Hello Kuchiki-san," the giant addressed Rukia, bowing slightly.

"Tessai-san," she answered back.

"Please come in," Tessai told her, gesturing to the still open door of the store. Rukia smiled gratefully at him, sent a smug look at the still glaring Jinta and entered the shop.

"Why, Kuchiki-san!" Urahara exclaimed as he caught sight of her. He was a strange one no mistake, with his green striped hat and that fan he constantly waved in front of his face. "What a surprise! What are you here for?"

"A few things actually," she replied. "Firstly, I need more fixers for this gigai."

"You sure about that?" Urahara asked her, reaching up to collect a small box from a shelf above his head. "You do realise that if you use too much of these it'll be painful when you have to leave that Gigai."

"I know," she answered. "But I need them. Did you get my order in?"

"Sorry Kuchiki-san," Urahara replied. "They haven't come in yet. There was the other version..."

"No," Rukia said firmly. "Sorry Urahara-san but I won't take the second best."

"Any particular reason you don't like ducks?" he asked curiously.

"Never mind that now," Rukia told him. "Tell me, have you heard of wizards?"

Urahara froze for a moment, staring at her. His eyes, covered by the brim of his striped hat, had widened at her question although thanks to the shadow cast Rukia couldn't see it. This could get troublesome. How did she know about them? 'Better ask her,' he thought.

"Where'd you hear about wizards?" he asked, managing to pull off a very convincing, if he did say so himself, innocent act.

"Ichigo's brother, Akira, claims to be a wizard. I was curious if you had information about them. I've seen his abilities and I believe him. Now, the question is if I should involve the soul society in this."

Urahara internally winced, that was the last thing that should be done. True some were aware of the wizards but they were few and far between, mostly people who had once been wizards and not many of those actually became Shingami. 'Better play it safe,' he thought as he stared at the petite shinigami in front of him.

"I've heard of them," he said vaguely. "They aren't aware of the Shinigami though. Their magic is similar, if a bit different, to Kido. It's a bit more versitile though."

"I've noticed," Rukia answered. "He let me look through a few of his books."

"Really?" Urahara asked interestedly. That didn't happen often. Usually wizards were more guarded with their methods and secrets.

"Yes," Rukia answered. "He said something about being honest since I have been open with them." She felt slightly guilty that she hadn't told them about shikai but there wasn't a reason to. She'd have her powers back soon, hopefully, so there really wasn't a reason to teach Ichigo about Shikai. It was doubtful that he'd actually be able to atain it anyway and it was unlikely that they'd face any hollows that required it. Urahara was having the same thought process. Well, it was similar at least. Who knows what really goes on in Urahara's mind after all? I don't and I don't think that anyone else has any idea so we'll just leave it at that.

"You've got a good friend there Kuchiki-san," Urahara said seriously, traces of humor and playfullness gone for a moment. "I'd be careful what you do with that."

Rukia nodded. She wouldn't inform the Seireitei, at least not yet. Urahara was right, this was important. Besides, the last thing she wanted was for Kurotsuchi-taicho to get his hands, or whatever he had, into Akira. She wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even a hollow! The man, if he could be called that, was just too twisted for everyone's good. She felt pity for his Lutenant, she really did.

"Thank you anyway Urahara-san," she told him.

"Not a problem Kuchiki-san!" he replied brightly, his normal atitude back in it's rightful place. She paid for her fixers and quickly headed out of the store. Jinta and Ururu were still there and the kid cast her a hateful glare while Ururu waved at her. Rukia tossed a smirk over her shoulder at the red head before waving back at Ururu and making her way back to the Kurosaki Clinic. She'd just go in through the front door, make like she was just visiting her friends. That should be believable enough. Then again their dad was...how did you describe the man? Rukia wasn't sure and she doubted that she ever would. There was just something about the guy, she didn't know what but it was definitely nagging at her. Well, that and his atitude. That man was definitely the strangest person she'd ever met, minus Urahara of course although he did come a close second. She shuddered, how were his children still sane after living with him for so long? She really wasn't sure she wanted to answer to that, she really, really wasn't.

-o0o-

Days went by and they managed to get into a rutine of sorts. When Rukia's pager allerted them to a hollow Ichigo would either excuse himself to go to the bathroom or Akira would use his magic to cause a slight distraction shall we say that either caused the class to be excused or created an excuse for Ichigo and Rukia to have to go. It wasn't likely that the teachers would buy the excuse of 'bathroom' after only a ten minute difference in time.

Ichigo's skills as a Shinigami were improving gradually. He no longer flinched quite so much when he brought his massive sword down on a hollow's head and he was getting faster, stronger somehow. Rukia had to admit that she was impressed at the speed his skills were improving. If he'd been learning Kido at the same rate he'd be among the top rookies at the academy, she was pretty sure of it. He didn't have the control for that though. That was partly a blessing and a curse. Because of his immense spiritual pressure and subsiquent lack of control it would be practically impossible to teach him Kido, he'd proabably end up either blowing himself or his surroundings up. At least it was an excuse not to teach it to him. On the downside it made it almost impossible for Ichigo to sense hollows sometimes as they were so weak that they didn't actually register on his 'Spirit Sense' as Akira had dubbed it. This made tracking the buggers by himself a lot harder. It was a good thing that her soul pager still worked, that and the fact that Akira had gotten pretty good and sensing hollows. Rukia wondered how skilled Akira would be if he became a Shinigami. It was an interesting question, one she was going to get the answer to a lot sooner than either her, Ichigo and Akira were comfortable with.

-o0o-

'It's tomorrow,' Ichigo thought dismally as he stared out the window of his and Akira's bedroom. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and everyone else seemed to be in better moods than normal. That was definitely not how Ichigo felt.

His stomach was churning and his chest felt tight as he stared outside, not really seeing it. His thoughts were focused souly on that day, the day all those years ago.

"Ichigo," Akira said softly from behind him. Ichigo turned to look at his brother. Akira's emerald eyes were shining with worry as he stared at Ichigo. "You know you can't keep doing this to yourself right?"

"I know," Ichigo muttered. "Doesn't mean that it's easy."

"I didn't say it was," Akira replied. "If I'd been there then I would feel the same but I wasn't. If only I'd come with you that day, maybe I could have done, I don't know, something!"

"What could you have done?" Ichigo asked. "You weren't trained at the time."

"I know," Akira muttered. "That doesn't mean I still don't think it."

Rukia was watching them worriedly. She'd never seen Ichigo like this before. This morning when he'd gotten up he'd actually smiled. This in itself set alarm bells going in her mind. Ichigo didn't smile, that was one thing she'd learned during her time here. He never smiled unless it was at Yuzu, Karin or Akira. His seemingly cheerful atitude had persisted throughout the school day and that had simply hightened her sense of unease. Something was most definitely wrong here. She didn't know what though. She'd need to ask Akira later, maybe he'd be able to shed some light on what was going on. She wouldn't interupt though. This was clearly something personal, private, to them and she didn't want to get involved.

"Hey Rukia," Ichigo said abruptly. Rukia jolted, not expecting Ichigo to turn to her quite so suddenly. "I'm gunna need tomorrow off."

She stared at him uncomprehendingly. He wanted tomorrow off? Why? What was so important that he couldn't take the time to fight hollows? She was just about to ask him, quite rudely if she was honest with herself, what he was thinking but then she caught sight of Akira behind Ichigo. Her blue-violet eyes met his emerald green orbs and something passed between them. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking at Ichigo again, his brown eyes focussed on her completely.

"Is it alright if I think about it for a bit Ichigo?" she asked him. She noticed his lips tightening slightly but she didn't comment. Whatever this was that was messing with Ichigo it was big, she was sure of it.

"Whatever," he said, seemingly uncaring before he walked out of the room, almost but not quite slamming the door behind him. Akira sighed as he stared after Ichigo before he looked at Rukia. She asked one question.

"Why?"

"Tomorrow," Akira said slowly, seeming to choose his words with care. "Tomorrow's the aniversery of the day that our mom was killed."

Rukia's eyes widened at that. Out of everything that Akira could have said that was the last thing she'd expected. It made a bit of sense now, Ichigo's sudden atitude change, the fake smile, the apparently friendliness, it all became clear. A sudden wash of sympathy passed through her. She knew what it felt like to lose a family member. She knew that she wasn't as close to her older sister, Hisana, as Akira and Ichigo were to their mother but she could understand it. An old wound ached as she thought about Hisana. She'd been so small when her sister had left her alone, saying that she couldn't look after Rukia anymore. What they were going through, the hurt, it had to be worse than that.

"How did it happen?" Rukia asked quietly.

"I'm not completely sure," Akira admitted. "Mom and Ichigo were on their way back from the dojo where we trained. I'd been sick that day so I wasn't there. It was raining, I remember that much. I won't say more though, if Ichigo wants to tell you then he will. He blames himself though."

Rukia nodded at that. It was clear in the orangette's eyes, the guilt, the pain. That kind of ache never went away, she should know, she experienced the same feeling about Kaien-dono. It was different though. Ichigo didn't kill his mother. She was the one that stabbed Kaien-dono through the chest. She pushed that memory away, now wasn't the time to think about it.

"What will you do tomorrow?" she asked.

"We'll go to mom's grave site," Akira answered. "We do it every year, pay our respects. I think it eases the pain a little, for all of us."

-o0o-

The sun was high in the sky by the time they'd made it to the base of the hill. The graveyard was situated at the very top.

"Alright!" Isshin exclaimed as he stared at his children. "Lets get going!"

With that Isshin quickly set off at a fast pace. Akira shrugged at Ichigo and his sisters before following. Pretty soon they passed Isshin who was panting.

"Stupid old goat," Karin commented.

"Now now Karin," Yuzu chided "Don't be so mean."

"To goats," Akira commented off handedly. Karin and Ichigo snorted in laughter at that. Or, Karin did, Ichigo gave a sort of non comital noise in response to his brother's atempt at humor. Akira sighed.

"Come on Ichigo," Akira said, gripping his arm. "Lets walk ahead for a bit."

Ichigo nodded before to pair sped up slightly, Akira having to go a bit faster than Ichigo to keep up. Damn his shortness!

"Hey Ichigo!" Karin called from behind them. "Isn't that that new kid from your class ahead of us?"

Ichigo looked up sharply and a dark scowl passed accross his face. A bit ahead of them stood Rukia. She smiled at them slightly and leaned against a nearby tree. She was wearing a white dress with some blue trim around the neck, the bottom and short sleeves. It looked a bit like one of Yuzus. It probably was now that Akira thought about it.

"A friend?" Isshin asked from behind. Suddenly it was like he'd gotten all his energy back and he began to charge up the hill in an atempt to reach Rukia. "Oh Rukia-ch-"

He was cut off abruptly as Karin turned around and gave him a vicious kick. He spluttered for a moment before falling backwards and tumbling back down the hill.

"Take that you crazy old fart," Karin muttered before continuing up the hill as if she hadn't just kickeded her father in the gut.

"What are you doing here?" Ichigo demanded harshly as he and Akira reached Rukia.

"Well," Rukia looked around. They were in a deserted area, not many people came to the graveyard. Today was a nice enough day. The sun was shining and the sky was a deep blue. Trees rustled in a slight breeze and their shadows moved on the ground as the leaves waved through the air. An occasional bird song split the quiet, ti was a nice feeling. "Can I talk to you a moment Ichigo?"

"Go," Akira suggested. "We won't start until you get there."

Ichigo scowled but followed Rukia into the trees. Isshin had recovered, somehow, and had raced up the hill, going past Karin too fast for her to boot him back down the hill again. He stopped by Akira and looked left and right for any sign of his oldest son.

"Where did Ichigo go?" he asked.

"To talk with Rukia," Akira answered. "He shouldn't be too long."

"To talk...with a girl?" Isshin asked, a grin spreading accross his face. "Ah! My son! All grown up!"

"Shut up!" Akira told him bluntly. Isshin didn't listen though, going on about how 'grown up' his boy was becoming. Akira sweatdropped before deciding enough was enough. Taking a page out of Karin's book he kicked the old goat from behind causing him to fall face first into the dirt. Casting an annoyed glance at his father Akira continued up the hill to the graveyard. Could his father be any more annoying? Somehow Akira was sure of it.

-o0o-

When they finally reached it the graveyard it was completely still. There was no one else around and the sun cast shadows, covering some of the graves in a thin layer of shade. Akira breathed in deeply, enjoying the freshness of the air. There weren't many places where the air was so fresh and that was one of the things he liked about this place. 'Mom would have loved it too,' he thought. It was true, Masaki Kurosaki loved the fresh ahr. Sometimes she'd complain about the air, claiming that it was too heavy and poluted. He knew that she would have never left Karakura though. It was her home and besides, if she moved then she couldn't help so many people and that was the one thing she loved most, helping people. Akira smiled, he was sure Ichigo got that from her.

The four of them made their way towards Masaki's grave. Akira smiled gently as he looked at the white stone. It was slightly beaten and weather worn but you could still see the writing engraved into it.

"I'll be back in a bit kids," Isshin said. "I just need to take care of something." He left without another word. The three Kurosaki children stared after him. What was that about? Akria shrugged it off for now, just figuring it was another of his father's weird habbits. He hadn't done this before though, not on this day anyway. Yuzu stepped closer to the grave. There were tears in her eyes as she stared at the stone. Karin stepped forward beside her twin, holding back tears. She wouldn't cry. She'd done enough of that when she was younger, she had to be strong, for Yuzu. If she wasn't strong for Yuzu then who would be? There was Akira and Ichigo of course but Karin was closer to Yuzu, they were twins after all. They might seem worlds appart but they were close, just as close as Akira and Ichigo. Speaking of Ichigo, where was he?

Karin looked around the graveyard and there was still no sign of his distinctive orange hair. Where the hell was he?

"Chill Karin," Akira told her, seemingly to read her thoughts as he looked at her. "Ichigo won't be too much longer."

Yuzu was ignoring them for now, concentrating on the grave marker.

"I'll leave you two for a minute," Akira told them. "I won't be far and it'll give you some time alone with mom, you okay with that?"

"Sure," Karin replied absently. "Go ahead."

Akira nodded before walking down the path of the graveyard, the oposite direction that his father had gone in. He wouldn't go far though. He wouldn't leave his sisters unprotected. He wouldn't baby them though, that was the last thing they needed.

He was deep in thought when he noticed something, something wrong. It was on the edge of his senses, there but yet, not. It was very strange. Then he realised what it was. How the hell could he have been so stupid? He should have recognised it for what it was immediately, a hollow. Cursing he quickly spun around and made his way back to Yuzu and Karin. He had to hurry. As he rounded a corner he froze, his eyes going impossibly wide as he stared at the scene before him.

Yuzu had been flung against a headstone and was slumpt forward, her head against her chest. Her eyes were closed. That worried Akira but taht wasn't what he was focusing on though. One of the largest hollows he'd ever seen held Karin in an iron grip. It's face was stretched into a twisted leer as it stared at Karin hungrilly. It's tale whipped back and forth behind it as it gazed at Karin hugrilly. Karin coughed harshly as it let out a ransid breath straight in her face. How disgusting. Hollow breath was not one of the most pleasant odours she'd ever had the pleasure of smelling.

"You'll make a fine snack," The hollow told her, opening it's disgusting maw to try and swollow her. That broke Akira out of his daze and he rushed forward, drawing his wand. He knew that it probably wouldn't be much use but he had to do something! Even if it just distracted the hollow for a bit. Ichigo and Rukia were near, they should be here soon right? Rukia's pager should pick up this thing right?

"Oi! Put her down!" He yelled as he got closer. The hollow looked at him and laughed.

"What can you do against me?" It taunted as it stared at Akira. "You can't hurt me, not with a stick."

"Shimo hi!"(Frost Fire) The spell shot out of Akira's wand like a flash and headed straight for the hollow. The hollow was surprised so involinterilly let go of Karin who plumited to the ground. Akira cast a quick cushioning charm on the ground to prevent her from hurting herself. He turned back to the hollow just as the spell hit. Just as he'd thought, it did nothing. The hollow looked down at it's leg and began to laugh.

"You think that will stop me?" it taunted. "How pathetic. If you're so keen to be eaten though, I think I'll indulge you." With that the hollow quickly bipassed Karin and Yuzu and straight for Akira. Akira, quickly assesing the situation, turned and began running down the stone path. 'Good,' he thought as the chanced a look back. The hollow was still after him and closing in. 'If he's chasing me then he's not going after them. I just need to keep this up until Ichigo and Rukia get here. Please hurry.' The past part was a silent prayer to Ichigo. He could only outrun a hollow that size for so long after all.

Akira quickly rounded a corner and ducked behind a nearby headstone. The hollow rounded the corner but didn't notice him and kept running. Akira breathed a sigh of relief but it was short lived.

"Got you!" Akira quickly dodged to the right as the hollow's clawed arm swiped at him. It missed and tore through the headstone. Akira sent a silent opology to whoever was burried under there before quickly running again, making sure to lead the hollow away from Karin and Yuzu.

"You can't keep this up much longer boy," The hollow taunted. "You're tiring, I can feel it!"

The hollow was right, he was getting tired. Running for your life will do that to a person. Damn it! The hollow was clising in!

'Come on Ichigo,' Akira thought. 'Where's a Shinigami when you need one?'

The hollow suddenly lunged at him. Akira, caught off guard slightly, couldn't dodge the hollow entirely and as he tried to move out of the way got a claw in his back. Akira hissed as the razor like blade of the hollow's claw tore a line down his back from the top of his right shoulder all the way down to his left hip. He could feel the warm blood gushing from the wound. He staggered, his eyes screwed shut in an effort not to scream. It felt like liquid fire was searing along the wound, burning him from the inside out. The hollow laughed as he looked at it's handywork. The human was as good as his. Akira stumbled to s headstone adn used it to lean on but he slumped to the ground. Great, he was helpless. He'd accidentally dropped his wand and it lay about eight feet from him. He tried to summon it but as he raised his hand to try pain shot through his back and he hissed. Okay, that wasn't going to work. Damn it! The hollow was closing in, a sick grin twisting it's already grotesque features.

Just then Akira noticed a shadow passing overhead, going straight towards the hollow. He looked up and felt his body flood with relief. It was Ichigo.

"Get away from my brother you bastard!"

Yes, that was most definitely Ichigo. Akira smiled weakly as Ichigo battled the hollow. His skills had clearly improved over the last few weeks.

"Akira!" came a voice behind him. Akira turned to see Rukia running towards him, a worried look on her face. This morphed into one of extreme concern as she took in the wound the hollow had inflicted.

"Can you heal yourself?" she asked worriedly, handing him his wand. She'd picked it up immediately after spotting it lying on the ground.

"I don't think so," Akira gritted out. "I can mend bones and heal scratches but this, I can feel it. It's cut through more than just skin. I'm lucky it didn't cut my rib cage in half."

"Can you at least stop yourself from bleeding out?" Rukia asked, her eyes shining with concern. If only she had more reiatsu, then she might be able to use a healing kido. Damn this Gigai!

"I'll try, help me ain."

Rukia helped Akira manouver his left arm into a position so that it was pointing at his back. The gash prevented him from moving his right arm so his left would have to do.

'Here goes nothing,' he thought. "chi ryū wo tomeru!" (Stop blood flow)

Immediately the volume of blood spilling from his back lessened to a trickle. It didn't relieve the pain though and Akira hissed as Rukia moved him to a better position. He turned his head towards where Ichigo and the Hollow were still going at it. It seemed like there was a pause. What had he missed?

"You bastard," Ichigo hissed at the hollow.

"You think so do you boy?" the hollow taunted. Akira then noticed something that he hadn't seen before. The hollow had something standing in front of him, it was connected to the hollow by a thin strand or chain. It was a girl.

"What the hell," he muttered as he stared at the girl. The hollow laughed.

"You recognise it, don't you Shinigami," The hollow spat the word 'Shinigami' as if it was the worse curse word he could think of. "You remember it."

"She was there," Ichigo whispered, barely loud enough for Akira and Rukia to hear. "She was the one I saw, that day."

Now Akira understood completely. It all seemed to click into place. His eyes widened and he tried to move forward but ended up hissing as the motion caused sharp needles of pain to dig into him from his back.

"Recognise my lure do you?" The hollow taunted. "You should. After all, if you hadn't seen it I never would have gotten my claws into that delicious morsel. It was your mother was it not Shingami? What a pity. You had the higher spiritual pressure but waht can I say? I've always had a certain weakness for women."

"You bastard!" Without a second thought Ichigo charged the hollow, swinging his blade down with a cry. That thing had killed his mother. He would make it pay!

"This isn't good," Rukia muttered, staring at teh hollow.

"What is it Rukia?" Akira asked her quietly.

"Grand Fisher," she murmured. "We've been trying to kill him for the last fifty years. So far he's escaped our grasp. He's taken many Shinigami from us." Akira's eyes widened and he turned his head to look at her. Was she serious? This thing had managed to eat some of the Shinigami. This didn't bode well for Ichigo, not in the slightest.

Back in the battle Ichigo was swiping and dodging at the hollow. The hollow made a grab for him but Ichigo blocked it with his blade and swung the huge sword down to try and cleave off the thing's arm. The hollow jumped back to avoid him but it wasn't quite quick enough. Ichigo had managed to catch it in the chest. A deep wound cut through the hollow's chest, going from just above his hollow hole, passing through it and continuing down it's abdomen. Black hollow blood gushed from the wound. Ichigo carried on the attack, running forwards and jabbing at teh hollow. The hollow blocked most of the blows byt a few still managed to pierce it's hide. It hissed as and spat at Ichigo as he attacked Grand Fisher. Akira could feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure rising as he got more and more furious, his strikes becoming wilder and wilder as he forced the hollow backwards.

"You little brat," the hollow hissed at him. "I will not forget this! One day soon, I will come for you and next time, next time you won't be so lucky Ichigo Kurosaki! I can promise you that!"

Before anyone could say or do anything the hollow seemed to tear a whole in the air and jumped through it. Ichigo tried to follow but the hole closed before he had a chance to. Ichigo cursed before placing his sword back on his back. He turned to look at Akira and his eyes widened in horror.

"Shit!" Ichigo cursed as he quickly ran over to Akira. "How bad is it?"

"Bad," came a voice from behind. Ichigo turned quickly to face the new comer. Akira looked up and his eyes widened. Another Shinigami. When had he gotten here? And why hadn't he been helping Ichigo? "The hollow cut deep into his back. There is no way to heal a wound such as that, at least none of us here are capable of such a feat. Only members of the Fourth Division have experience enough with healing Kido to do that."

"Damn it!" Ichigo cursed, bending down and examining the wound. Some blood still flowed from it despite Akira's best efforts and he was looking pale. His green eyes seemed to stand out even more than usual against the sickly palar of his skin.

"There has to be something, anything!" Ichigo snarled as he stared at Akira. He couldn't let this happen. He wouldn't let his brother die. Suddenly an idea hit. He turned to Rukia. "What happens to my body when I leave it?"

Rukia blinked at him, caught completely off guard by the question. "Your body goes into stasis when your soul is freed from it," she answers carefully. "It does not age and unless an outside force interferes it doesn't..." She trailed off, her eyes widening as she realised just what Ichigo was thinking. "Are you crazy!" she yelled at him, getting to her feet. "You don't even know if it will work!"

"I have to try!" Ichigo shot back. "If I don't then he'll die anyway!"

"What are you two talking about?" Akira mumbled. His mind was beginning to go fuzzy and he couldn't think straight. Everything was blurring at the edges, like it used to before he had his eyes corrected.

"I'm gunna stab you with my Zanpakto," Ichigo told him. "Are you okay with that?" Akira tried to pull his mind from the fog. He had to think rationally. If his soul was out of his body then it was in stasis, meaning he couldn't get any worse right? That would be something and if he was out of his body he might be able to patch it up right? He might not still have his magic but it was worth a shot. If he didn't then he'd find out what the soul society was like way sooner then he'd be comfortable with.

"Do it," he muttered finally, closing his eyes. "Just do it and get it over with please." Ichigo nodded before drawing his blade again. He took a deep breath. 'Pleas let this work,' he silently said in his head as he held his blade over Akira's chest. 'Please, please, please work!' Before he could hesitate Ichigo plunged the sword down and through Akira's chest.

Immediately a huge surge of reiatsu burst from Akira's body so that they were all thrown back. It was just like what happened when Ichigo's abilities were awakened. The headstone behind Akira had shattered under the pressure and dust covered the area where Akira's body lay. Ichigo coughed and squinted through the smoke. 'Please let this have worked,' he silently thought. It was then that he saw the figure in the smoke. As it dispersed he let out a sigh of relief. It was Akira.

He looked different. He was wearing the traditional Shinigami outfit but there were a few changes. For one thing instead of the sash being white it was a deep emerald green, as was the white lining the upper half of his outfit. Wverywhere there was suposed to be white there was green. It suited him. Ichigo also noticed that Akira wasn't wearing traditional zori sandals. Instead he was wearing a pair of boots that dissappeared under his hakama. They were emerald green also and highlighted in silver with strange fire designs. His sword was accross his back like Ichigo's and the sash that held it was silver and seemed to glitter slightly with emerald dust. He could just see the hild poking over Akira's shoulder. It was simple but it wasn't a Katana like a normal shinigami blade. Instead it was foreign, possibly European in origin with black cloth wrapped around the grip.

Ichigo felt a smirk pull at his lips as he stared at Akira. His brother definitely suited the Shinigami outfit. Akira reached around and felt along his back. There was no wound. The hollow had inflicted damage to the body and, thankfully, not the soul.

"We need to work quickly," Rukia said. Ichigo blinked and looked down at her. He'd forgotten about her.

"Allow me," said the Shinigami that Akira didn't know. "May I?" He asked, looking at the newly transformed Shinigami. Akira, cought off guard, nodded slightly. The Shinigami approached his fallen body and carefully manouvered it so that the wound was facing upwards. Akira winced, he really did look awful or, at least his body did. It felt strange. He looked down at himself and ran his hand over the hilt of the sword at his back.

"The body is in stasis," The stranger said, breaking Akira from his thoughts. "Because of this the bloodflow has stopped. This will give us more time to heal the wound. I am no master of Kido but I should be able to at least ensure that the body does not die of blood loss."

"Do it," Rukia said. The stranger just nodded and held his hands over the body. Immediately green energy sprang from his hands and enveloped the wound. Akira could see the strain on the stranger's face. Whatever he was doing it was obviously tiring. As Akira watched he saw some of the muscle begin to repair itself, the skin begin to knit together and the wound to look less inflamed. After a few minutes of watching the stranger gasped and dropped his hands, the green glow leaving them as he colapsed against a neibouring headstone.

"I can't do more than that," he admitted as he stared at his handywork. "The wound will not be life threatening any more, unless it is infected of course."

"Why are you helping us now?" Ichigo demanded. "A while ago you were set on killing me?"

"I caused this, in part," the stranger admitted. "If I had only sensed the hollow before it had gotten so close, this could have been prevented. I wished to help set right my mistake."

"So what now?" Akira asked, deciding that he'd get the full story from Ichigo later. He rubbed his head, he was getting a headache. Just fantastic.

"Now, I go back to the soul society," the stranger said, standing up. "Be careful Rukia. You can't keep this up forever."

With those parting words the Shinigami lept into the air and dissappeared into the many trees surrounding the graveyard. Akira looked around him, it all looked peaceful again. How could this place have been a battlefield not long ago? He looked at Ichigo who was still staring after the Shinigami.

"Akira?" Rukia asked him tentitively. He turned and looked at her questioningly. "Can you, can you still access your magic? When you're in spirit form I mean, perhaps you could heal your back some more before we move you."

"I don't know," he admitted. He could still feel his magic, pulsing under his skin. But then again he could feel his reiatsu when he was in his body so that didn't mean much did it?

"There's only one way to find out though." Grasping his wand tightly he pointed it at his back and muttered a healing spell he'd learned. It wasn't designed for a wound this big but it would have to do. It was better than nothing and if it didn't work then at least they knew that that option was out. It was better to find out now rather than in a battle situation after all. "Can you two lift my body up a bit please?" Ichigo and Rukia did as instructed. Rukia too his legs gently and Ichigo too the shoulders and head, supporting them carefully. Together they hoisted Akira's body a few inches off the ground. "That's fine." Taking a deep breath Akira raised his wand and muttered the spell.

"hōtai de tsutsumu," (Wrap in Bandages)

Immediately a long white bandage issued from AKira's wand and began to wind itself around his body. Akira was so surprised that his magic actually still worked that he almost dropped his wand. In truth he hadn't been expecting much. He quickly got his mind back on track thourh and focussed completely on the task at hand. The cloth was thicker than the one he'd used to bind Rukia's wrist a while ago and it looked stronger. It kept winding around his body and Akira slowly moved his wand up his body's spinal collum, directing the bandages to wrap all the way around his body. He also directed them to go over one shoulder, the right one, and finished it off by tightening them up before releasing the spell so that the cloth stopped issuing from his wand.

"That should hold it," Akira said after a moment. "I'll need to change them later but for now they'll hold."

"That's good," Ichigo said, letting out a sigh of relief. Rukia was looking at Akira curiously. If he could still use his magic was it possible taht others could too? It was definitely something to think about. Suddenly Ichigo's eyes widened. "Shit!"

"What is it Ichigo?" Akira asked worriedly.

"What the hell are we gunna tell Goat face, Yuzu and Karin?"

-o0o-

Well? Thoughts? Comments? Anyone wanna say anything? PLEASE!!!!!!!!! -puppy eyes-