• A midnight stroll was the perfect ending for a hard day of exercise. The young shinigami had been in the training grounds of the twelfth division for several hours before finishing his training. Together with his peers, the boy had gained even more strength since he left the academy. Yet, he was still no match for any of them.

    As he walked around the outer quarters of Rukongai, where had had been raised, he saw a few kids running around, still playing in the middle of the streets. Not a single one of them was older than fifteen he thought, as he kept walking towards his old home. I haven’t met anyone in quite some time; it must have been over a year since I last visited.

    He saw a young little girl running in his direction as he took a step to the side, thinking she would just rush past him. Instead, she ran up to the shinigami and he could see panic spreading across her face.

    “Mister, mister,” she said as she grabbed his shihakushou. “Please help me; my brother went missing in the woods when we were playing.”

    The young girl that stood in front of him was not a day older than ten. “Tell me, where did your brother go missing little girl,” he said as he grabbed her to calm her down.

    “Over there, by those rocks,” she said as she pointed towards a rocky area. Not until now did he notice that she wore torn up clothes and slippers on her feet.

    “Okay, go tell your parents and I will find your brother for you.”

    They both went separate ways. It took Eiji only a few minutes to reach the place where the little girl had pointed, and the shinigami started concentrating. Reiatsu Noukan, wasn’t it? I should probably be able to find him with this. He started extending his reiatsu as much as he could. From what he had noticed previously, his range was just less than a kilometer at the moment. After a minute, he felt a faint reiatsu in his detection field. So he is to the west. I better hurry before something else shows up. You never know what kinds of animals may be around here.

    He started running at full speed, hoping that he had pinpointed the location correctly. He was starting to get closer to his goals, as he stopped again to use the technique he had already once utilized. He felt the target was even closer now. Just a bit more and I can get the young boy home safely. Hopefully nothing has happened to him.

    In front of him stood a boy, only a year or two older than the girl that had asked him for help. They looked identical, with the exception of the length of their hair. While the young girl had long flowing hair, this one had shaved his head almost completely bald. He walked up to the boy slowly as he extended his arm to him.

    “What’s wrong boy, why are you alone this deep in the woods,” he asked, as he reached towards the boys shoulder.

    “A-a-a-a monster attacked me,” he said as he started crying silently. A few tears dropped down his cheeks as he started wiping them again. “H-h-he hunted me all the way here and then disappeared.”

    “A monster you say?”

    It must have been a hollow. But what does a hollow do here? And why did it attack the little boy? He doesn’t have any special spiritual power. It must be after something else. He took the young boys hand and pulled him up from his spot on the ground. “All right, time to go home,” he said, as he lifted him up on his back. “Hold on tight.”

    -

    Halfway through the forest, Eiji felt a disturbance in his reiatsu. He kept running as he took a good look around him. There is something close. But I can’t fight with this kid on my back. I will have to leave him before I go back. “We’re almost there kid.”

    -

    At the beginning of his home town, Eiji saw a few people standing together with the young girl he seen earlier. You could see that all of them were relieved that the kid had returned safe and sound. Eiji walked up to what appeared to the boy’s father and handed him the kid. “I think that he should be all right, he only needs to rest a bit.”

    “How can we ever thank you,” the mother said as she grabbed both of her children and hugged them. She and the father of the children were dressed even worse than the two kids. There was nothing to cover their feet, and all torn up and dirty clothes that barely covered them.

    “Just you make sure that your kids don’t run around this late anymore,” he said as he started walking towards the forest where he had retrieved the boy. “Go back home, there is something I must do here.”

    The dark haired boy started running through the forest at full speed once again. I know it’s still here, I can feel it. He stopped in his track and used the Spiritual Pressure Perception again. This time, he found his target easily. I see, so because it’s a lot stronger than the boy, it’s easy to find it. It’s still not strong enough to give me any trouble.

    The hollow was a lot slower than the shinigami. He had reached him quickly after finding it. The evil creature next to him looked like a somewhat bigger version of a sabre-tooth tiger. Its teeth extended more than a foot out of its mouth and were pointing upwards. Eiji quickly appeared in front of it and kicked it right in the face. Following up with another kick, the hollow fell on his back.

    Weak. I can’t believe that it was this creature was what managed to hunt that kid that far into the forest.

    As he unsheathed his zanpakutou, he saw the hollow trying to stand up, prepared to flee. With another kick to the chest, the hollow had stayed in place for good. With a simple swing through its head, the hollow started to disintegrate. He re-sheathed his sword and went back.

    -

    Upon returning to his home, he saw the family still standing where he had left them. He went up to the boy and squatted down in front of him.

    “Kid, tell me, how did the thing that hunted you look like?” he asked as he hoped that his target was the right one.

    “I don’t know,” the young boy said, still scared to his wits. “I think it looked a little like an elephant, although bigger.”

    Even bigger than an elephant? That can’t be! Don’t tell me that there are two hollows around. What could it be that has drawn them here?

    The young boy looked once again at the family in front of him. “You got back now,” he said. “I’ll take care of everything.”