Hoshi stopped , and suddenly felt the tension in the air rise ." I think we're being watched ."She said in a low whisper at Ichigo , feeling tense .

"Ichigo felt the tension in the air as well and stopped. "Be ready to run, if the need arises," he whispered not knowing if someone was really watching them or not.

Hoshi nodded . She didn't see anyone around , but still didn't know if there were any traps set.

Arashi Hirose, former member of the Gotei 13, was watching the two from the trees. He was told to watch Ichigo and Hoshi since one of the Bount had gone missing this morning. He didn't dare start a fight right now , he would have to let others know and then things could begin to take place.

Ichigo felt the feeling of being watched for a few more minutes before the feeling vanished completely. He focused on his senses and pressed them out as far as he risked doing so, still feeling nothing. This can't be a good thing... he thought to himself before reigning his senses in. "You still feel like we're being watched?" he asked Hoshi.

Hoshi nodded. " I don't like the feeling I'm getting from this place. " She said in a whisper .

"I don't blame you," Ichigo said, knowing that if someone was after him and that group of people were in this dwelling, that he wouldn't like the place either. Not that he would admit it, of course.

Hoshi thought she felt someone move quickly behind them and turned around , but saw nothing.

Hirose shunpoed behind the two to the other side of the path. He wanted to see how these two reacted.

Ichigo felt the surge of reiatsu behind him and quickly turned around and moved into a ready battle stance, his hand heading to where Zangetsu usually rested before realizing that he wasn't in shinigami form.

Hirose was amused at the reaction of the two, knowing the next time he saw them he would make himself known.

Hoshi was tense and ready to fight." We better get out of here." She said when she heard voices in the distance.

"Agreed. Let's get Elva and get out of here," Ichigo said, not liking the fact that someone could have spotted them so easily.

Hoshi quickly went down the path. She had her guard up in case the Shinigami wanted to ambush them while they were here.

Hirose went to the house to report what he had seen. " They've left. Would you like me to follow either Kurosaki or Matsuda?"He asked the leader of the Bount.

Ichigo followed Hoshi up the path quickly as a thought went pass Ichigo's mind and would ask his zanpakuto about it when they got back to safer territory. He did keep his guard up throughout the whole time.

"No, let them go for now Hirose. There will be much time for later to follow them and ambush later," the leader spoke after he listened to the report.

" Did you see my brother?" Elva said when she saw Ichigo and Hoshi.
" We didn't Elva-chan . We need to get someplace safe. " Hoshi said .

" I understand.What is the chance they will tell the others about this place?" Hirose said .

"Very high, but I was expecting that. If they, however, tell them that there were no traps and then we do so..." the leader said, letting Hirose figure out the rest.

Ichigo felt bad about not being able to see Elva's brother, but knew that he was still alive since he was still useful to the Bount. He just hoped that they didn't take advantage of him as they headed back towards a safe place. If it was just him, he would have gone in anyways, going straight to bankai and take all of them out...but that wasn't the case.

" Then it will be to our advantage . " Hirose finished. " We still must be careful , concidering who we're up against. "

Hoshi couldn't help but worry about Vincent and what sort of terrible things they were doing to him. She was afraid she would be used for terrible things also. Hoshi cringed at the thought and was determined to fight back.

The leader nodded at both of Hirose's statements, especially if they brought all of their power against them.

" Where should we head to Ichigo?" Hoshi asked once they were a distance away , noticing how nervous Elva was. Hoshi took Elva's hand hoping her new friend would be alright.

"We're going to head to the one place they won't expect us to go. Come on," he said as he started leading them towards the apartment complex that had Tatsuki's apartment in it.

Elva was grateful when Hoshi took her hand, she just hoped that her brother was alright.

Hoshi nodded. She knew they would be safe at Tatsuki's ." I hope I can help Elva feel comfortable around Shinigami. I know I still feel tense about the ones I haven't met yet." Hoshi thought to herself as they continued to walk.

Tatsuki was just about to head out for a few minutes before seeing Ichigo, Hoshi and a spirit that she didn't recognize. Sighing lightly, she headed back inside and letting Asami know they were about to have guests.

Asami was glad to see Ichigo and Hoshi and greeted the ghost girl that was with them.

"Tatsu this is Elva. Elva this is Tatsuki , one of mine and Ichigo's friends.And this is Asami . " Hoshi said introducing Elva to her other friends once they arrived. She noticed Elva wasnt as tense around Tatsuki and Asami like she was Ichigo. Hoshi knew once inside she and Ichigo would have to explain what had happened in the last hour to Tatsuki.

Ichigo noticed how Elva wasn't as tense around Tatsuki and Asami. It has to be because of my Hollow powers Ichigo thought to himself as he got ready to tell Tatsuki what happened in the last hour. He also had the feeling that Tatsuki would scold them both for the stupidity of the idea...or not taking her with them.

" Tatsu , please don't get mad when we tell you what just happened. It started after study hall . Arima-sensei let us out early again so she could go to an appointment . I was waiting in the front lobby when I sensed someone watching me . I then sensed a low level hollow and went to take care of it . I still sensed a spirit and said everything was safe. That's when I met Elva . She told me the Bount had her brother Vincent and are making him do terrible things. Elva and Vincent are Seers like me." Hoshi said. She was going to let Ichigo tell Tatsuki the other part of what happened.

Tatsuki nodded and promised not to get mad at the two before listening to Hoshi. Once she was done, she noticed that Hoshi turned to Ichigo and waited for him to start talking.

"I saw Hoshi coming back with a spirit and didn't know who it was. I asked her about it and Star-chan told me everything that she told you. Elva then told us that she knew where the Bount's were but was afraid that the Shinigami that was with them would Konso and send her to Soul Society. I then asked her to take us there. Since we were just going to do recon, I suggested that we go and check the place out. We saw the house before we felt like we were being watched. We reacted and since no one came to confront us, we left.

"And you came here, because...?" she asked, waiting for the answer.

"Because it's the last place the Bount or that Shinigami would think we'd go. All three of us, together in one spot? It may make me sound like an idiot, but I highly doubt they'd think I'd come here first." Ichigo said as Tatsuki looked at him. "What?" he finally asked.

"Did you just admit you were an idiot?"

"Hey!"

Hoshi giggled a little bit." I agree that the Bount won't think to look here . They probably think Ichigo and I would have gone to my house or to Urahara's first ." Hoshi said.