Chapter One: Survivors

[Soul Society]

[Rukongai District #67]

"We are nearing the area from where the patrol unit sent the call for help!" The female Shinigami with long, dark hair tied up, with strands hanging on each side of her face, informed her companion. "I can sense multiple Hollows too in that area. Too much for the patrol team to handle by themselves."

"I just hope we make it on time." Her male companion gritted his teeth, increasing his pace even more. The male Shinigami was a rather tall man with aqua green eyes and spiky, raven black hair. On his left arm, he wore a badge that signified him as the Vice-Captain of a Division. He pulled out his Zanpakuto from the sheath when they arrived at their destination, greeted with a sight he never wanted to witness.

Six Hollows were gathered around the area, with a few of them having just finished devouring the members of the patrol them. Seeing the pair of Shinigami drop by, they all refocused their attention to their natural nemesis.

"I sensed seven of the Hollows, one is missing but I bet that one is nearby." The female Shinigami spoke, unsheathing her Zanpakuto and taking a ready stance. "What's strange is that the Hollows who are known to act independently are working together."

"We can leave that stuff to Division 12 for studying." The male responded with a frown. "Right now taking care of these Hollows takes priority. We need to wrap this up quickly and search for the missing Hollow. Don't hold back!"

"Roger that!"

Rushing up to the nearest humanoid-shaped Hollow, the female Shinigami performed a clean cut on its chest. The latter backed off before spreading its wings and taking flight to attempt a counterattack. The Shinigami retaliated by putting out her left palm forward and charged a red sphere of flames. "Hado #31, Shakkaho!"

"Bakudo #4, Hainawa!" Not wasting a single second, she moved on to the next Hollow, quickly binding its arms with yellow ropes made of Spiritual Power before proceeding to slash off its mask. The Hollow disintegrated after taking a single attack in the head. Finishing on her side, she spared a glance at her senior officer.

The male Shinigami finished the last of the Hollows he was facing by first disappearing from its line of attack and reappearing right behind it using Shunpo before cutting off the Hollow's arms which were attached to its wings. He then thrusted his weapon into the Hollow's mouth before performing a horizontal slash, cutting its head into two.

"Let's go look out for the last remaining Hollow." He instructed, earning a nod from his subordinate. 'If the Hollows are really acting in a group then is it the leader? With intelligence?'

Similar questions raced in the minds of both the Shinigami as they disappeared from view, in search of the seventh Hollow hiding whom they knew was somewhere close by.

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(At the same time)

"Suzaku!" The girl's horrified shriek resonated throughout the small hut she and her only brother resided in. She had long deep black hair and a pair of vibrant golden eyes which were now filled with pure horror and despair at the sight of her younger brother's lifeless form held loosely by the red fur-like tentacles that had run through his torso.

"Aren't you a little hero? Thinking you could protect your sister?" A huge, hut-sized green-colored Hollow mocked, holding the black-haired boy via his red fur that surrounded his mask.

"N-Natsumi nee-san..." Coughing up blood, the boy named Suzaku glanced at his older sister, his right eye slightly opened, sparing a glance at his sibling, before glaring back at the Hollow. Gathering whatever of the strength he had in his arms, he grabbed the tentacle that had ran through his torso and tried pulling it out. "R-Run..."

"Never! I am not leaving you to die!" She protested. Being the older sibling, it was her duty to protect her younger brother. That is what the older siblings do. But in front of this Hollow, fear took over her and she couldn't even move a muscle. Hollows are dangerous and this one being an intelligent one along with being able to communicate is going to be even more dangerous than usual Hollows.

The siblings are no Shinigamis that will be able to fight against Hollows. Neither did they have proper training of a Shinigami nor do they have their Zanpakuto, specialized weapons used by the Shinigami to exterminate the Hollows. Being normal citizens of the Rukongai district, they are now at the mercy of this Hollow.

"You see, I am quite the connoisseur of rare and unusual souls. You two have got quite the peculiar Reiryoku about you." The Hollow ranted on, enjoying the horrified look on the girl's face. Given his sadistic nature, he enjoyed seeing the expression of fear and despair on the faces of his prey till the very last second. "With that said I will be devouring your souls today and I am thinking of starting with the eldest. That would be you I guess."

"It's me.." The girl admitted with a gulp, her voice barely a whisper. She needs to buy time somehow. The Shinigami would be notified about the Hollow appearance by now and should have made their move. Having seen how fast they are on their feet in a previous occasion, she believed that they might make it on time to save her brother. "L-Leave my br-brother.."

"No can do. I will be devouring both of you. But since I am a man of my word, I will start with the eldest first." The Hollow smirked deviously, slowly advancing towards the girl when he felt a stronger pair of Reiatsu approaching his direction. "Damn those accursed Shinigami!"

Knowing full well that he won't stand a chance against a Vice-Captain and a Third Seat pair of Shinigami, he believed that retreating would be in his best interests. Tossing the half-dead boy towards his sister, he made a run for his life, jumping inside a spatial distortion which appeared out of nowhere. After the Hollow jumped into it, the rift disappeared.

'Suzaku!' Feeling her strength returning to her upon the Hollow's retreat, Natsumi crawled up to her brother's unconscious body. His breathing was slow and his chest barely moved with each breath. It seemed he was stubborn enough to hang onto life, albeit barely. 'I must save him! I need to!'

She pressed her palms above the gaping hole on his torso before a dull golden glow surrounded both her palms along with the hole on her brother's body. The hole slowly begin closing in as the girl continued to pour more energy into it. 'This power really is taxing but I need to endure it. I can't let him die here like this! Not yet..'

Fueled with the determination to save her brother, her only family member at all costs, Natsumi poured more of her energy into this mysterious healing technique. The wound was soon closed up and there wasn't any sign of it anymore on Suzaku's body. Not even a scar!

Feeling dizzy and tired after spending a lot of Reiryoku on healing her half-dead brother, she fell down unconscious right next to him.

"Did you see it?" The pair of Shinigami revealed themselves from hiding, their gazes fixated on the unconscious siblings lying on the floor. By the time they had arrived the Hollow had already retreated but what stopped them here was the healing technique used by the girl.

"This level of healing rivals that of Captain Unohana." The male muttered, going inside the hut and checking up on the boy. His female companion did the same with the girl. "Either it is advanced healing or Time-related Kido."

"But, isn't that forbidden by Central 46!?" The female Shinigami remarked.

"The ban applies to only the Shinigami and the Kido corps. That holds no value to the members of the Noble Family or the countless citizens of Rukongai." The male responded with a serious gaze. "After all they cannot look into each and every citizen with their limited manpower. Plus they leave these faraway districts to their own devices."

"I see." The female nodded, contemplating the information shared by her senior. "What do we do about these kids? Leaving them here would be risky for their lives."

"Yes, if the Hollow is an intelligent one, it will definitely return for them once they are left unguarded." The male paused for a few seconds, thinking about their approach to this situation. "Let's take them to my house."

"Are you sure about that?" The female raised an eyebrow.

"It's a better option than handing them over to a Hollow or the members of Division 11 or 12." The male didn't waste a second to respond, picking up the unconscious boy in his arms. "At least I can guarantee their safety in my household."

"Are you really sure about that?" His subordinate inquired, picking up the girl in her arms.

"Have some faith in me will ya?" The Vice-Captain let out an annoyed grunt before using Shunpo to disappear from the view, his subordinate following right after.

'Everything should be fine as long as Kukaku and Ganju keep it under control...'

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(A Few Hours Later)

"So Hollows cooperating and coordinating with one another, showcasing a very bare minimum intelligence level." The Shinigami from the 12th Division summarized the reporting of the female Shinigami standing in front of him. The latter belonged to the 13th Division of the Gotei 13, the official name for Soul Society's military force. "To me it seems as if the Hollows were listening to orders of someone stronger than them. Anyways, anything else to report?"

"Nothing new as such." She shook her head in response. "Aside from the fact that there was an intelligent Hollow who managed to sense our presence and escape even before we could confront it."

"I will make sure to report this to Captain Urahara. Rest assured." With that, the Shinigami disappeared from the thin air, heading straight for the barracks of Division 12.

Letting out a sigh, the female used Shunpo, heading straight for her squad's barracks. She had to write the report for today's patrol and mission. Since her Vice-Captain would be busy taking care of the children they found, all the workload regarding the paperwork now rested on her shoulders.

'I should go pay them a visit once I am done with the paperwork since we still lack information on the Hollow that attacked them.'

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(The next day)

"W-where am I?" Was the first question Suzaku asked himself upon feeling his consciousness return to him. He slightly opened his eyes only to snap them shut. It was difficult to adjust to bright light right after waking up from a long slumber. Slightly rubbing his eyes, he reopened them, experiencing a blurred vision.

With his blurry eyesight slowly fading away, he was welcomed with the sight of a well-painted ceiling. Pushing himself up and sitting up straight, he took a quick look around the room he was in. The room was vastly different from the hut he and his sister stayed in for almost more than half of their lives. It was well-furnished and the floors were spotlessly clean.

It felt as if the place where he resides in and the place he is in right now are completely separate worlds. "Right! Nee-san! The Hollow?!"

Yesterday's events came back rushing in his mind. Their village was attacked by the Hollows who started wreaking havoc all around. Then a small group of Shinigami did arrive to help the people evacuate from the village. They were the Patrol Unit which was tasked with scouting and patrolling different areas of the Rukongai and checking if everything is fine or not. During Hollow attacks, their priority-basis task is to evacuate the citizens around the area. The ones who don't have any fighting skills are basically tasked with this job.

The Patrol Unit was soon wiped out by the leader of the Hollows who seemed to be leading them. It was the same Hollow that made the siblings his target, since the Patrol Unit was able to evacuate a good number of villagers residing there. The remaining few had either run off on their own or hid up inside their houses, or simply became Hollow food.

Last he remembered was the Hollow trying to attack his sister, but he stepped in between to take the blow meant for her. After that the world had gone black for him.

"I remember having the Hollow's attack run through here....Huh?!" He checked his torso, only to find it perfectly fine. There was not even a scar and neither any injury marks! "How did this happen, I swear I felt the attack run through me?"

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door to his room creak open and entered in a girl with long black hair and green eyes. She blinked twice on seeing Suzaku awake, the latter feeling completely awkward in this situation, with no idea on how to react about it. Before he could say anything, the girl turned around for the door and ran out.

"OJII-SAN!! ONII-SAN! FREELOADER ONE!!" She yelled out, making sure the entire household heard her. "FREELOADER TWO WOKE UP!!"