Time and Tide

Chapter Eight

Ichigo opened his eyes to find himself in his bed, he stretched out his senses finding the twins in their room and Dad in his own. He wondered if the damage would be put down to a truck again or if a different memory would be implanted. They were random after all. He got up and stretched, finding his uniform had been cleaned from Yuzu's blood, Geta-boshi was good.

He got ready for school and then headed downstairs to find them talking about the truck they had all somehow slept through. He watched his Dad and yeah, he either knew or suspected the truth. How had he never guessed there was something up with him, he was way too accepting of Ichigo's absences from school and odd activities and yet he had never put it all together, not till he'd appeared to protect him from Aizen.

He was nervous about how much may change due to how differently the night before had gone. Rukia hadn't lost her powers so would she still hang around? Maybe curious about him? Kisuke would have to come up with another way for her to lose her powers and need his special gigai. And then he groaned as he began helping clean up, Sora, he was the first Hollow he'd really dealt with, other than that weakling she'd had him fight in the kid's playground. He'd need to be dealt with quickly, preferably before becoming a Hollow. Harry may need to handle it, depending on how closely he was being watched now. Harry was definitely better at being sneaky than he was, even without magic.

As soon as he arrived at school he was inundated with questions about the accident everyone relieved to learn there had been no casualties and he saw Harry relax, despite the wards he'd been worried.

Ichigo wasn't sure whether to be surprised or not when Rukia didn't show up and at lunch they slipped away to ensure the kid at the park was safe, watching as she arrived and dealt with the multi-legged Hollow, before returning to class, unseen.

~~

Harry apparated to an empty alley by Inoue's apartment building and then began scouting around. There was Inoue in her apartment...the other residents...ah, there was her brother, floating in front of her window and...he swore and activated his charm, his body slumping to the ground as he vanished, drawing Nejibana as he moved, her sealed form slicing through the first Hollow's mask before they knew he was there. He spun around, bringing her around to cut off two tentacles before bisecting the seconds mask before the first had even finished dissolving. He found himself face to face with Orihime's older brother even as the spirit back peddled away from him, eyes wide in fear. "It's alright Inoue-san, I'm not here to hurt you," he lowered Nejibana, relaxing his stance. He couldn't afford to linger, it wouldn't take long for his presence to be detected, even with how much he was suppressing his power.

"How do you know my name?"

"I know your sister; we go to school together. It's time for you to pass on. More of those monsters will come for you until they turn you into one of them. Once that happens you will hunt and kill Orihime."

"I'd never hurt her!" he denied angrily, and Harry smile gently.

"You wouldn't but the monster they would make you into, would. It would consume her soul and then kill everyone it came across to feed, eating other ghosts like you as well.

"How...how do I..."

"I can send you on, it won't hurt," he promised, moving closer. "No stabbing or impaling involved," he grinned, and Sora managed a shaky one in return, turning to stare at Orihime. Harry didn't have the heart to tell him what Soul Society would be like, the odds he'd remember his sister within a few years.

"Goodbye," he whispered before turning to Harry who smiled.

"Be at peace Sora," Harry told him, pressing Nejibana's hilt to his forehead, performing Konso easily. He watched him vanish and hurried back to his body, getting in, and then apparating home to find Ichigo waiting for him. He grinned and kissed him. "It's done, just in time too, he was being attacked by Hollows."