Unfinished Gems

Changes - 3

Haru looked at the date. Tomorrow was the day she died. When Ichigo first learned that the shadowy forms he saw were in fact souls of the dead. It was after the incident that Haru and Ichigo learned they had magic.

"It's tomorrow," said Haru.

"I know. Any ideas how to get her off our back?"

"Oh, I have an idea alright. She isn't going to like it though," grinned Haru evilly.

~

"What is this?" she asked.

"A potion to see what sort of animal you can turn into," said Haru.

Unknown to Rukia, Haru had mastered the art of lying his ass off without getting caught. It came in handy when he was pretending to be Ichigo.

Rukia looked at it with misgivings. Ever since she drank one of Ichigo's potions, she had been wary of them. (She later tried a hair changing potion made by Haru, and was horrified to learn that Ichigo as horrible at potions). She downed it with distrust...and abruptly turned into a rabbit.

She blinked, and realized Haru was grinning evilly at her.

"I'm sure Yuzu wouldn't mind carrying her new doll with us," said Haru.

Ichigo walked in, took one look at the rabbit, and started howling with laughter.

~

Haru stayed behind, having released Rukia from the prank he pulled on her an hour ago. He was about to go find Isshin when he felt the earth tremble. But it wasn't an earthquake.

He looked around...and his face paled. Before him was a hollow...but not just any hollow.

It was the hollow who had killed their mother, and left them with only Isshin.

The hollow was clearly after Karin and Yuzu. Haru paled even further.

"Karin, Yuzu, why don't you conjure some flowers for Mom?"

"Haru, you know we're not allowed..."

She took in the look on Haru's face.

"Something's here, isn't it?"

Haru said nothing, but his eyes spoke volumes. Karin took out her wand, and Yuzu followed her lead. The twins conjured some pretty flowers for their mother, while Haru placed a spell that would keep the weeds from growing.

The hollow didn't leave. It appeared more interested in them, meaning it was smarter than the rest. Most hollows never went after mages, because they were more trouble than normal humans.

However, whenever a hollow did target a mage, then it usually got a massive power boost.

There was a reason why Japan trained their mages to teleport within their third year. With the amount of fallen spirits that inhabited and hunted in the country, teleporting was the last line of defense for a mage.

Yuzu and Karin were going to start that training next week. And Haru wasn't nearly as good at teleporting as Ichigo was.

Too bad Ichigo wasn't anywhere near them at the moment, and his spirit sense wasn't good enough to feel the danger nearby.

Haru took a defensive stance, and told the girls to find Isshin. While the man pretended he couldn't see spirits (Haru had seen him glancing every so often at Ichigo's ghost visitors, so he knew it was an act and didn't mention it) he would still be able to protect the girls.

The hollow sneered at him, and knew he was a better meal than the brats the boy was protecting.

"Such a delicious morsel," he sneered.